Police arrested a McComb couple Monday after officers discovered they had been living in the back of a U-Haul truck with eight other people, including two young children and an infant.
While on patrol in the 400 block of Monroe Street in the Baertown community Monday afternoon, Officer Whitney Webb saw a U-Haul truck that had been reported stolen recently out of New Jersey.
Webb recovered the stolen vehicle and arrested 28-year-old Darnell Varnado, 906 Ninth St., McComb, and 29-year-old Shantay E. Varnado, 408 Monroe St., McComb, each on one charge of possession of stolen property.
Detective Shannon Sullivan said the Varnados traveled with eight other people from McComb to New Jersey in late May to live with relatives. The arrangement fell through, however, so the group came back to McComb.
Sullivan said police and Department of Human Services officials discovered in early June that the group of 10 had been living in the back of the cargo truck in a parking lot of a shopping center near Hart and Delaware roads.
The 10 people were from two families. The Varnados had two children under the age of 15 and the kids’ grandmother. The other family consisted of four adults and a newborn baby.
Sullivan said DHS temporarily placed them in a hotel room, then directed them to housing authorities in Monticello.
For reasons not yet clear, however, the family with the infant obtained housing while the Varnados returned to McComb and took up residence in the U-Haul again — this time in front of a residence on Monroe Street.
Since the U-Haul was reportedly due to be returned on May 29, the company eventually filed a stolen vehicle report.
After officers arrested the Varnados on Monday, DHS officials found a temporary residence for the two children and their grandmother.
The couple remained in the Pike County jail this morning. Darnell Varnado is being held without bond, while Shantay Varnado’s bond has been set at $10,000.
Sullivan said the family’s situation is unfortunate and police are working with housing authorities to find a suitable residence for them.
“We’re getting with DHS again to see what we can do for the family,” he said. “We need to make sure the kids and the family are taken care of.”
