WASHINGTON PARISH, La. — A sheriff's office says it doesn't know how many times it's arrested this Louisiana man, but it's been at least 21 times.
Whitney Landon McNeese who lives on Highway 438 was arrested Monday for the 21st time by Washington Parish Sheriff's Office deputies — that's what a release said on Friday before a Saturday morning correction.
One of the WPSO's former jail warden told deputies McNeese was arrested several times between 1997 and 2005, but those arrests are not on record.
'How many more? We don’t know.'
A WPSO release said most arrest records from that time were paper and kept in a storage room underneath the jail.
"During one of the times when the Bogue Chitto River flooded, that portion of the jail was inundated and records were destroyed," a WPSO release said. "That, along with a broken sewer pipe, rendered the records totally unusable and not retrievable."
Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal thanked deputies for being so vigilant, but even he seemed surprised by McNeese's rap sheet.
“Wow,” said Sheriff Randy Seal, “arrested twenty-one times just in Washington Parish! One can only wonder how many arrests McNeese might have in other jurisdictions. It seems we arrest some folks over and over, only to see them back in the community committing other crimes."
The sheriff said career criminals should be locked up for longer sentences to keep them from preying on others.
"It seems both of these fellows continuously thumb their noses at the courts by failing to appear at their appointed time," the sheriff said.
Right man, wrong place
That's not all. Despite all the arrests, McNeese was able to give sheriff deputies a false address.
"First, he gave us a false address when he was booked," a spokesperson said. "His actual address is on Highway 438 and not D.C. Crain Road. His address has been updated in our jail records."
Arrest number 21?
WPSO deputies' most recent arrest of McNeese was an outstanding warrant, and he was jailed on charges of unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling and attempted simple burglary.
Those charges aren't too different from McNeese's first WPSO arrest on record.
In 2006, he was arrested and charged with burglary of an inhabited dwelling and criminal damage to property, but records from his 2006 arrest say he had a probation hold from the Louisiana Department of Probation and Parole, the release said.
That means he was on probation then from a previous arrest, but that arrest could've happened in a different jurisdiction.
His next arrest in 2007 also had a hold from Probation and Parole in addition to a new arrest for theft.
In 2008, he was arrested for drug distribution and theft, and after that year he was arrested again and charged with failure to appear in court.
In 2011, he was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and for resisting an officer. Five months later, he was arrested for possession of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In 2012, he was charged with burglary of a business, possession of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Later in 2012,he was charged with possession of stolen property, criminal conspiracy and failure to appear in court.
In 2015, he was arrested on a charge of theft.
In 2016, he was arrested and charged with burglary of a vehicle and four counts of unauthorized use of a bank card.
He faced a single count of assault in one 2017 arrest, and a later 2017 arrest charged him with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling and theft.
Five months later he was arrested again for unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling.
One of his arrests in 2018 was for theft, obstruction of justice and possession of drug paraphernalia. Again in 2018, he was arrested for felony criminal damage.
In January 2019, he was arrested for identity theft, fraudulent acquisition of a credit card and theft. Then Four months later he was arrested again on charges of burglary, attempted burglary, criminal conspiracy and failure to appear in court.
In 2020, McNeese was arrested for three counts of failure to appear in court. later that year, he was arrested another time for theft.
In December, he was arrested for three counts of burglary, two counts of attempted burglary and three counts of criminal damage to property.
McNeese was not alone at the time of his "twenty-first" arrest. Jeremy Wade Forbes, also 37, was arrested with McNeese Monday.
Unlike McNeese, Forbes, who only has seven WPSO arrests, is a Sandy Hook, Mississippi native, and he was charged with possession of illegal drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and contempt of court on Monday
In 2006, Forbes was arrested for public intimidation, resisting an officer, failure to appear in court and three traffic offenses. This was followed by an arrest in 2007 on three counts of failure to appear in court.
In 2011, Forbes was arrested for reckless operation of a motor vehicle. In 2013 he was arrested for possession of illegal drugs and two counts of failure to honor a written promise.
In 2014, Forbes was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia as well as an outstanding warrant. His sixth arrest was in 2015 on four counts of failure to appear in court.
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