Fire at Neshoba Fairgrounds horse barns leads to felony arrests

An early-morning fire in a horse stall at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds led to multiple felony arrests, according to the Neshoba County Sheriff.

The arrests stem from an incident that occurred at about 1:30 am on Thursday when deputies responded to the Neshoba County Fairgrounds after the caretaker reported a fire at the horse barns.

The caretaker was awakened by three young males knocking on his door to report the fire. They stated they saw the fire and used a nearby water hose to extinguish the blaze. The horse stall sustained minimal damage.

Derek Dunn,18, 10391 Road 1535, William Eubanks, 18, 10630 Road 836, and a 16-year-old juvenile were recognized from a call earlier in the week, where a golf cart had been vandalized, Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark said.

Dunn and Eubanks were detained for questioning. Later in the morning, officials said both teenagers were charged with eight counts of burglary of a Fair cabin as they allegedly broke into the cabins with intent to commit another crime. The juvenile has been detained and awaiting a detention hearing, Clark said.

He said more charges are pending as the Sheriff’s Office awaits a value of damages to the rented golf cart.

“I encourage Neshoba County Fair Cabin owners to go to their cabin and carefully inspect the cabin for damage,” Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark said. “The [accused] violators could not identify all the cabins they had burglarized.”

If you have any information on criminal activity in the Neshoba County-Philadelphia area, call (601) 656-1414 or East Mississippi Crime Stoppers at 1-855-485-8477.