Regional briefs 12/20/15

Crash near Campbell kills two people

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- Two people died in a highway crash on Highway 53 five miles north of Campbell at 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported the accident happened when a vehicle driven by Cory Thompson, 26, of Campbell crossed the center line and hit a pickup driven by Jimmy Harrison, 52, of Lake Wappapello, Missouri. Harrison and a passenger, Billy Faucett, 45, also of Lake Wappapello, were pronounced dead at the scene by Dunklin County Coroner James Powell. Thompson was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau with moderate injuries.

3rd person charged with Craigslist heist

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Another person faces charges of stealing a cellphone that was being sold on Craigslist. Jacquon Smith, 17, of Charleston was charged with second-degree robbery in connection with a Craigslist-related robbery Wednesday. Charleston Department of Public Safety director Robert Hearnes said a woman from Fairdealing, Missouri, had made arrangements to sell her cellphone on Craigslist to a man from Charleston. When she met the buyer in the 500 block of West Ada Street, the phone was taken from her, and the suspect fled on foot. During the investigation, the suspect was identified as Smith, who was arrested. He is being held in the Mississippi County Jail on $50,000 bond. Hearnes told the Standard Democrat it was the third robbery involving a Craigslist transaction in less than a week.

Second arrest made in fatal hit-and-run

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff officers arrested a prominent local businessman Friday morning accused of being the second driver of a hit-and-run accident that killed a Poplar Bluff teen. Ben Ressel, 38, of Poplar Bluff was arrested at his home on suspicion of felony leaving the scene of an accident. Heavenly Grace Hafford, 13, died after being struck by two vehicles at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 9 as she crossed Kanell Boulevard near Maud Street in Poplar Bluff. The driver of the first vehicle that struck the teen, Randal Sparks, 42, of Poplar Bluff, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence, both felonies. Police chief Danny Whiteley told the Daily American Republic witnesses saw Ressel leaving a bar just before the accident. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is assisting in the investigation.

-- From staff reports