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Strickland accused of jumping in back of truck, banging on window and threatening woman

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A well-known anti-drug crusader who was arrested for dealing methamphetamine earlier this month is facing more charges after being accused of threatening to kill a woman.

Ricky Strickland, 45, was charged with simple assault by threat early Sunday morning after he jumped in the back of a 46-year-old woman’s pickup as she left his residence in the Rustin Community, according to the affidavit she filed with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department. 

Strickland reportedly remained in the back of the truck, “banging on her window threatening to kill her” for the 10 minutes or so that it took her to get to Laurel, where law enforcement took him into custody in a convenience store parking lot on Chantilly Street.

The woman reported that she was at Strickland’s residence on Pearl Hodge Road overnight and had been trying to leave, but Strickland wouldn’t let her. When she made her way to her truck the next morning, Strickland came to the window and said he was going to kill her, according to the report. When she finally got her pickup to crank, that’s when he jumped in the back and banged on the window and continued to threaten her as she drove to Laurel on Highway 84 East until she saw law enforcement personnel, she reported.

Strickland told Deputy Brock Avera that he and the woman got in an argument that morning and when her vehicle wouldn’t crank, she began to hyperventilate. Strickland said he was trying to get her to open the door to make sure she was OK, but when it cranked and she began to pull away, he “jumped in the bed of her truck because he was worried about her health,” according to the report, and “she would not stop so he could get out.” Strickland also denied threatening her. The woman declined medical attention but she did want to sign charges on him for threatening her.

That’s a 180-degree turn from the Sunday morning routine Strickland became known for over the last several years. He was credited with saving others from depths of drug use and leading them to Christ through the faith-based addiction-treatment program Dying to Live Ministries at Christ’s Church. He was on the jail ministry team and he has spoken at several anti-drug events, including Red Ribbon Week events at local schools, drug court graduation ceremonies and in the “Journey of a Junkie” exhibit at the South Mississippi Fair.

He even managed to take the rare step of getting his felony record expunged and was granted his Certificate of Rehabilitation in Jones County Circuit Court back in October 2017, restoring his right to legally own firearms — a right he took full advantage of, apparently.

On Aug. 4, JCSD narcotics agents executed a search warrant at his residence and reported finding 58 grams of meth and 28 firearms. Strickland was charged with trafficking meth and booked into the Jones County Adult Detention Center. 

 Sgt. Jake Driskell of the JCSD Narcotics Division said he began getting “numerous complaints” about activity at Strickland’s residence around February or March, and that’s when narcotics agents began keeping an eye on him and eventually got the search warrant.

“It’s heartbreaking that some who seemed to have made it through addiction and even illegal narcotics distribution return to that lifestyle,” Sheriff Joe Berlin said at the time.

Many supporters took to social media to say how Strickland had helped them or loved ones get off drugs, and they wrote notes of encouragement.

When a Leader-Call reporter noted that Strickland had been hailed as a hero on the paper’s pages in the past, he said, “You gonna put me up as a hero again.”

In the initial appearance for the trafficking charge, Jones County Justice Court Judge David Lyons set Strickland’s bond at $50,000. He claimed under oath that he was indigent and would need a court-appointed public defender. But after determining that he owned land and a vehicle — a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice — Lyons denied that request, saying Strickland could hire his own attorney.

Strickland bonded out of jail — meaning he had to come up with $5,000 — the next day.

The latest charge is a misdemeanor, so that bond can’t be revoked when he makes his initial appearance in Jones County Justice Court. Investigators looked at the possibility of charging Strickland with kidnapping since he was accused of holding the woman against her will, but she reportedly didn’t want to pursue that felony charge. She did, however, say she wanted to file a no-contact order against Strickland.

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