Battery not charged

Getting it right, eventually: The neighborhood was in an uproar when police originally charged a culprit with aggravated battery after he allegedly pumped 7 or 8 shots into someone he apparently didn't care much for on Bienville Street near Decatur Street.

A witness heard the gunfire about 3:40 a.m.on Saturday morning (8.2.08) and saw a black dude shooting the victim, a 34-year-old black man, with a handgun.

The perpetrator fled on Clinton Street to Iberville Street toward N. Peters Street, with the witness in pursuit. As the perp crossed N. Peters, the witness flagged down a passing NOPD K-9 unit which apprehended the suspect at Bienville and Front streets and recovered the weapon used in the crime.

Arrested was Nathaniel Payton, 26, who has drug arrest after drug arrest, going back to nearly the turn of the century.

For some reason, the NOPD is cloaking this case in a lot of mystery. Initially, the NOPD's flak refused to release the suspect's name, noting that he was being "very uncooperative." (What? You act up and the police won't give you your 15 minutes of fame?)

But the flak did say they guy would be charged with aggravated battery, rather than attempted murder, which is what set the neighbors off, who were all over TV yesterday ranting at the NOPD.

When the suspect's name did become known, it was found he was booked with attempted 2nd-degree murder and resisting an officer, but that a charge of aggravated battery was dismissed for lack of evidence.

For some reason, Payton isn't shown as a guest in OPP. There are 2 guesses on this:

1) If he's as big a drug dealer as he appears to be from arrest records, he might have easily made the measly $80,000 bond put on him by Magistrate Rudy Gorrell; or,

2) the resisting an officer charge may have had to do with trying to get away from the K-9 dog, which might have taken a bite out of his butt, sending him to the hospital.

The police don't seem to know where he is. He might, of course, be back roaming the streets of the French Quarter again, seeking to settle other scores.

Hang on to your purses: A white woman walking in the 700 block of Fulton Street (between Julia and Notre Dame streets) on Sunday (8.3.08) at 4:30 a.m. was robbed of her purse when an older model white Lincoln Towncar pulled alongside of her and a black dude got out and grabbed her purse. The car fled down Fulton toward Canal Street.

The robber was described as 5'9" to 5"11" tall, with hair in dreadlocks, wearing a long white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Buck bagged?: A NOcrimeline subscriber reports that the police arrested a suspect Saturday morning (8.2.08) about 1 a.m. near her home at Pauger and Dauphine Streets who looked an awfully lot like one of the 2 black bucks who pulled off 2 armed robberies earlier in the week just a block or 2 from her home.

She said 3 cop cars converged on the intersection to take him down and seemed very happy to have collared the guy. Police won't say whether or not they think he's one of the culprits from the robberies at Royal and Frenchmen streets on Tuesday or at Royal and Touro streets on Wednesday.

No wonder we have car thieves: The DA has set loose 2 more car thieves by refusing to prosecute Patrick Porter and David Cobarruviaz, both 21.

It's another slap in the face to the efforts of 8th District officers Brandon Ludwig and Billy Tregle who arrested the duo at 4:48 a.m. 6.2.08 for breaking into cars at Decatur and Conti streets.

No wonder the Quarter is plagued with car windows broken out and the interiors pillaged. The DA--who's now going to be a judge--just doesn't take the crime seriously.

Is that all?: The arrest of the shooting suspect and the one pursesnatching listed above were the lone crimes reported by the 8th District since the middle of last week. If, indeed, those are the only crimes in the last 7 days, the 8th District ought to be crowing about their success in corralling crime.

I suspect there's much more we're not hearing about in the 8th District. In the 2nd District (Uptown) sends out an email on the crimes that happen there. It's hard to know if it's for each crime that occurs there, but I had no less than 27 of them on my computer this morning. Of course, the officer who sends them out usually forgets to put the date and time on them, so it's hard to know just what they cover. But judging by 27 reports, you wouldn't want to live Uptown.

Let NOcrimeline know what's happening near you in the Quarter, the Marigny Triangle and CBD. If we can't get prompt and complete reports from the 8th District, perhaps we can rely on residents to alert their neighbors to what's happening and help prevent them from becoming victims of crime.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler