Royal robbery suspect arrested

Very quietly: You can't accuse the NOPD of tooting its own horn in this case, but they managed to arrest a suspect early last month in 1 of 2 robberies in the 1300 block of Royal Street early the month before.

In checking the outstanding arrest warrants that NOcrimeline keeps track of, we discovered the police had arrested Taurus Legrandre, 27, on 11.3.08 for the armed robbery of 3 victims in October. Legrandre pled not guilty yesterday (12.12.08) in Criminal District Court before Judge Raymond Bigelow on 3 counts of armed robbery with a firearm. He is being held in OPP on $50,000 bond. His next court date is 1.6.09.

Neighbors in the vicinity of those 2 robberies (Royal between Barracks Street and Esplanade Avenue) were on edge after the robbery 10.10.08 of 2 women, both 24, and a man, 27, who were out walking just after midnight, when a man who hopped out of car and held them up at gunpoint.

Just 2 days before on 10.8.08 around 6:30 p.m., 5 black boys on bicycles tried to hold up a woman walking in he same block. When the woman realized their weapon was only a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun, she fled. The police managed to arrest 3 of the young thugs, 13,14, and 15 years of age.

Cop killing indictment: A federal grand jury on Thursday (12.11.08) indicted Ameal Parker (right), 46, for the murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent from Houston attending an anti-crime conference in New Orleans who was beaten to death and robbed before Hurricane Gustav.

On 8.28.08, Thomas Byrne (left), 40, was found by a passerby on Elysian Fields Avenue near the I-610/I-10 overpass at about 1:20 a.m. He was taken to the hospital where he died 8.30.08.

Police reports conflict. At first, they said Byrne had last been seen walking to his hotel in the CBD from the French Quarter. A later report, said Byrne was walking in the French Quarter when he apparently got lost and wandered into the 7th Ward across St. Claude Avenue, a known no-no for locals.

Based on filmed footage from private and city crime surveillance cameras investigators obtained a warrant to search a house in the 1300 block of Frenchmen Street, just across St. Claude. After FBI and DEA agents and NOPD cops the afternoon after Byrne's body was found, they arrested Parker and Joseph Miller, 50, and booked them with possession of stolen property and access device fraud after they allegedly used Byrne's credit cards. Miller was later cleared of those charges.

Can't anybody here shoot straight?: It took a long time, but perhaps this is what really happened in the shooting at Harrah's Casino last Saturday night (12.6.08):

At first, a man who was shot in the leg told police he was wounded by another guy; when surveillance videos showed otherwise, he admitted he shot himself.

Now, the NOPD says, he was a rent-a-cop assigned to guard valet parking and was "playing with his gun" when it went off and a bullet went through his thigh.

The NOPD issued a summons for the illegal discharge of a firearm to Ricky Matthew Jr., 23, who works for Black Hawk Security (the guys who last year wanted to charge you to protect the French Quarter...no thanks).

Did he or didn't he?: In the only report the 8th District put out this week, Maj. Edwin Hosli said his officers arrested a 38-year-old guy after he pulled a knife on his girlfriend during an argument at Loyola and Tulane avenues before fleeing on a RTA bus.

Though police gave the suspect's name and date of birth, there is no record of the man in court documents or booking information at Central Lockup.

Maybe it's this kind of record keeping that sets so many criminals free.

Speaking of which: Paul Starr, who was so viciously attacked by a black gangster last month while walking to Matassa's Market, recently showed up at a municipal court hearing for his attacker after learning about it on NOcrimeline. He had not received any official notice from the city attorney's office, so prosecutors were surprised he was there.

And after telling them his story, Starr said, "The city attorney was surprised that this hadn't gone to the district attorney...it looked like everyone was just working off of the handwritten notes that had been taken at the scene. I gave the attorney a copy of your webpage together with the information on the accused which I had also printed out, thanks to the links that you had posted on your website."

The hearing was continued until 12.30.08 because, Starr said, "I believe that...the city attorney is working to see if the charges can be moved to the DA's office."

The difference between the city attorney handling a case in municipal court and the district attorney handling it in criminal court is the difference between a wrist-slap and a full-blown criminal prosecution.

And the offense doesn't wind up on the FBI figures that show how bad crime is in New Orleans. Perhaps that's why we're seeing so many cases brushed off as municipal infractions--another way to down grade real crime.

Free, free at last: A panhandler who attacked a guy with a knife in the French Quarter this past summer has been freed by Criminal District Court Judge Frank Marullo Jr.

Steven Law, 26, pled guilty 11.24.08 to aggravated battery for attacking the victim while he was walking with a group of friends in the 1000 block of Decatur Street about 8:30 p.m. on 8.10.08. The gutter punk and his girlfriend began hustling the group for money, and when they refused to give them any, the punk pulled a knife and stabbed the victim in the leg. The victim's friends grabbed the assailant and held him until police arrived.

After Law pled guilty, Judge Marullo sentenced him to time served--just over 3 months. Doesn't sound like much for plunging a knife into someone.

And another goes free: A guy arrested this past summer for allegedly breaking into a residence at 525 Conti St. has gone free after the DA yesterday (12.12.08) not to prosecute him for burglary. Actually, Michael L. Bourgeois, 34, had been free since 7.12.08, 2 days after he had been arrested, thanks to Judge Marullo who released him on his own recognizance rather than forcing him to post $25,000 bond.

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

Thom Kahler