Crime update 2.7.08

Whew! It's finally over...

Where to begin? Where to begin?: It wasn't a bad Mardi Gras--if you didn't get shot, robbed or arrested. You heard about some of the shootings; you know there were robberies too. The problem has been rounding up the information. The "new" system (perhaps "system" ought to be in quotes instead of "new") is labor-intensive: an 8th District officer has to rewrite perfectly good reports that were already composed in the "old" system and could be transmitted with little fuss or muss. The new system doesn't work badly until there's a deluge of crimes like during the last 5 days of Carnival.

Shootings first: In the week before Mardi Gras, there were at least 9 people shot in the 8th District alone (I can't count high enough to inquire about the other 7 NOPD districts), making it the most violent Carnival in recent memory:

• Saturday, 10:21 p.m.: 5 people were shot at Canal and Baronne streets after the Endymion Parade. Supposedly 2 of the victims were in a verbal altercation when 2 suspects opened fire, hitting 3 men, ages 17, 18, and 19, and 2 women, ages 22 and 24. They were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds.

Arrested almost immediately by the huge contingent of cops in the vicinity and charged with 5 counts of attempted first-degree murder were Bryson McDonald, 18, and "Inasio Fierra", 17, both of New Orleans. McDonald is being held on $750,000 bond in OPP.

There is no record of an "Inasio Fierra" as either an inmate or in court records. Repeated attempts to get the 8th District brass or the NOPD PR people to verify the name have been fruitless. Perhaps cops booked him under the wrong name; it would be nice to straighten that out before they try to prosecute him.

Arrested also at the scene, though not believed to be involved in the shooting, was Christopher Lewis, 24, and charged with the illegal carrying of a firearm.

• Sunday, 2:45 a.m.: Some one was shot in the 900 block of Common Street. No information available.

• Monday, 1:22 a.m.: In the 100 block of Bourbon Street, a 16-year-old black boy from Uptown was shot in his right side and a 20-year-old black dude from the Lower 9th Ward was shot in the calf. There was a report an arrest had been made in the case shortly before noon today, but 8th District cops haven't confirmed it.

• Wednesday (1.30.08), 9:24 p.m.: A warrant has been issued for a suspect in the shooting of an innocent bystander at the Holiday Inn Express at 221 Carondelet St. According to the Times-Picayune, the suspect is Raymond White, 16, whose last known address was in the 2500 block of Clio Street. But, again, the 8th District won't reveal any information on the suspect though he may be running loose in your neighborhood.
  

Now the robberies: For the most part, the robbers got out of the Bourbon Street hubbub, aiming more for the relatively quiet confines of the Lower Quarter but branching out too:

• Saturday, 4:45 a.m.: A white couple (no ages given) were walking in the 700 block of St. Philip Street when they were accosted by 3 black men. One of the thugs struck the man in the face and another thug pushed the woman to the ground and took the money she had pinned to her shirt (some swell birthday, huh?) The punks, who were described only as young black boys wearing hooded sweatshirts, then raced toward N. Rampart Street on foot. (Wouldn't you just love to grab one of those little dorks by his "hoodie" and swing him around and launch him into the universe?)

• Sunday, 10:10 p.m.: As the clerk was preparing to open the business at 203 Chartres St. (what sort of business doesn't open until 10 at night? maybe I don't want to know) 2 robbers bolted through the unlocked front door and pulled a gun, demanding money. The clerk gave up $700 (wow! that's some kind of change for a business just opening) and they fled.

The first robber was described as a white kid, 16 to 20 years old, 5'4" tall, weighing 120 pounds, wearing a white shirt, dark jeans and a fuzzy Mardi Gras hat. The other perp was a black guy, 18 to 22 years old, 6'3" tall, weighing 160 pounds, thin but muscular build, a dark complexion and no facial hair, with corn rows in his hair, wearing a black shirt and blue jeans.

• Monday, 4:14 a.m.: A white man (again, no age given) was walking on Royal Street toward Gov. Nicholls Street by Verti-Mart when a silver-colored car pulled up and the passenger pulled a gun and demanded his money. Then the passenger again got out of the car and demanded money again. The victim said he had no money, so the passenger got back in the car and it took off up Royal.

A short while later the car was stopped and the occupants, 2 white guys, were taken into custody. Arrested and charged with armed robbery with a firearm and aggravated battery (is there something the police report didn't tell us?) were Daniel Lumas, 28, and Frank Rulh, 18. (No, I don't know why Sheriff Gusman never has pictures of white inmates. Prejudice?)

• Monday, 4:35 a.m.: Someone was robbed at gunpoint in the 400 block of Andrew Higgins Boulevard. No information available.
  

• Tuesday, 11:30 p.m.: 2 white guys (again, no age given) were running in the 600 block of Esplanade Avenue, between Royal and Chartres streets, when they noticed 2 black guys standing by a car. As the victims neared, one of the thugs pulled a gun and demanded money. They surrendered a wallet containing $5 and the robbers ordered them to run away, which they happily did.

The robber with the gun was described as 18 years old, 5'11" tall with a thin build, wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, his hair in short twists. The other robber was only described as wearing a white T-shirt.

• Wednesday, 6:29 a.m.: There was a pursesnatching at 1630 Canal St., near S. Claiborne Avenue. No information available.

• Wednesday, 10:18 p.m.: A white woman (again, no age given) walking in the 1000 block of Burgundy, between Ursulines Avenue and St. Philip Street, was approached from behind by a black man who grabbed her purse and struck her in the side of the head with his fist.

The robber was described as 20 years old, 5'3" tall, weighing 120 pounds, wearing a black leather jacket with designs on the back.

Frightening: As frightening as shootings and robberies are, I'll tell you what's really frightening: seeing Chief Warren Riley standing there with that deer-in-the-headlights pose, bobbing his head like he doesn't have a clue what to do about these punks who are terrorizing the city.

In his press conference Monday, Riley blamed the shootings on "young, brazen thugs" running around with guns tucked in their baggy pants and "hoodies", noting that all the shooters were younger than 19, some have arrest records. And as dumb as these punks seemed to be by shooting with cops all over the place, he acts like they're outsmarting him.

If he has no idea of how to deal with them, here are some commonsense ideas from citizens:

• If the uniform these punks are running around in are "baggy pants and hoodies," start stopping groups of them dressed in this gang gear for questioning--it's often easy to spot guns even in that droopy garb.

• If you know "some have arrest records," question whether they're in compliance with the terms of their probation.
  

• Enforce the curfew laws. One of the victims in last Monday's shooting on Bourbon Street was 16 years old--out at 1 a.m. with a 20-year-old buddy of his. Where was his mama? He could have just as easily been a perpetrator as a victim.
  

• Riley notes cops were all over the place when the recent shootings occurred. But have you ever seen cops patrolling a crowd? This has been a major complaint amongst citizens at NONPAC meetings about the officers patrolling Bourbon Street. Too often they're standing in groups of a half-dozen or so, chatting amongst themselves rather than splitting up into pairs and walking and talking with the public all around. If these potential perps knew they were being scrutinized, they might be a little more circumspect about their behavior.

Maybe these aren't be-all-end-all solutions--they might not be solutions at all--but they aren't the only things worth trying either. You can't just be chief of police and not come up with some ideas to make this a safe city again. You can't keep doing the same things over and over again, expecting different results--you know what that's a definition of.

***

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

Thom Kahler

Crime update 2.1.08

Bang, bang, bang...

What a prelude to Mardi Gras: First, on Sunday sheriff's deputies gun down a suspect accused of pulling a gun on them, on Monday a crazy guy kills a female cop with her own gun, then on Wednesday a kid gets in a beef with some other punks and he fires shots and wounds an innocent bystander.

• Sunday, Kyle S. Brown, 21, was shot by an Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's deputy in a parking lot at the foot of Conti Street near the riverfront. The deputy was one of 2 working a private security detail in the parking lot at 4:15 a.m. when they noticed Brown emerge from his car and walk toward them with a handgun. The deputies told him to drop his gun, but he refused and allegedly pointed it at them. One deputy fired his weapon, hitting Brown, who is now in critical condition at University Hospital.

Brown is charged with attempted murder of a police officer and is in custody at the hospital under $150,000 bond.

• Monday, Ofc. Nicola Cotton, just across Earhart Boulevard from Union Station in the 8th District, thought she had the situation under control while questioning Bernel Johnson. But he suddenly attacked her, grabbed her Glock in a 7-minute struggle, and emptied its clip, killing her and her unborn child. If she thought Johnson, 44, a nut case who's been in and out of mental health facilities, was going to be a problem she would have undoubtedly called for backup; the NOPD requires a pair of 2-officer cars plus a ranking officer to be dispatched to any report of a mentally unstable person. Ofc. Cotton was buried today. (Hey, Bobby, give "ethics" a rest and get some mental hospitals open--or the blood from the next incident like this will be on your hands.)

• Wednesday, a punk in one of 2 gangs that got into a beef outside of the Holiday Inn Express at 221 Carondelet St. at about 9:24 p.m. fired a number of shots, one of which zinged through the hotel's window and struck an innocent bystander sitting in the lobby. According to various accounts (police information was sketchy), the man was a tour guide from Metairie and is in the hospital in stable condition with a bullet lodged in his head.

In some accounts much was made of the fact he was not a tourist and that this was "a random act of violence." (Don't they realize that's what makes it so scary? This is not happening in Central City--it could happen in your neighborhood next.)

A warrant has been issued for the 15-year-old hothead, but the NOPD refuses to release his name or his description so the community could possibly help apprehend him. So as you try to enjoy all the Carnival parades in the next few days remember: this shooter could be stalking your neighborhood.

He fought the law (they say): We never got the full report, but when 8th District cops went to arrest Jeffrey Struve, 32, at 1234 Royal St. on 12.3.07, they say he put up quite a fight. When it was all done, they had charged him with 2 counts of battery on a police officer, one count of resisting arrest, one count of disarming a peace officer, and, of yeah, what they went to arrest him for in the first place: theft by credit card.

Of course, when the DA got done, it was another story. She refused to prosecute all the charges except disarming a peace officer and changed that to "attempted."

This happened last Friday, 3 days before Ofc. Cotton was shot dead with her own pistol after being disarmed.

Accused rapist goes free: The DA had a busy day last Friday in court. She also turned loose Randall Treadway, 40, who had been charged with aggravated rape. He was arrested by 8th District officers for allegedly raping a 19-year-old white woman 8.26.07 in the restroom of the Bourbon Pub, the largest gay bar/nightclub in New Orleans. No telling what discrepancies might have prompted the dismissal of the charges. Treadway had been out of jail on a reduced bond since last August.

Luck runs out: Michael Lewis had been pretty lucky. Every time he'd been arrested in the last 3 years he managed to skate free--as if he had friends in high places. Then his luck ran out. First, he was arrested for a robbery Uptown. Then a 8th District detective thought the MO was a lot like a robbery in the CBD on a week ago; the victim agreed and picked Lewis out of a line-up.

Now Lewis, 20, is sitting in OPP on bond of $416,000 charged with 4 armed robberies with a firearm, possession of a stolen auto, possession of a firearm with control of drugs, and possession of marijuana.

He was charged with the robbery of a man walking in the 700 block of S. Peters Street on 1.24.08 at 6:03 a.m.

Another day, another arrest: Ashley Netter is more popular than she probably wants to be. 8th District detectives have linked her to another armed robbery, the one at 4 a.m. 1.8.08 in which 4 LSU students were robbed in the 1200 block of Bourbon Street by what they thought were 2 black men.

Netter, 23, was positively identified in a photo lineup and was charged with armed robbery. She is also charged in the armed robbery of 3 people on 1.7.08 at Dauphine and Pauger streets and of a lone woman on 1.10.08 at 832 St. Peter St. Arrested with Netter in the 1.10.08 robbery was Danielle Bigham, 21; she has not been charged in any of the other robberies.

More robberies too: With all the arrests and shootings, it's actually been fairly quiet this week crime wise. There were a couple of robberies however:

• On Monday at 11:35 p.m., 2 white men were walking on Bourbon Street when they were accosted by 2 black guys as they neared Esplanade Avenue. One of the blacks pulled a chrome-plated handgun and demanded the victims' wallets.

The robbers were described as 20 to 25 years old, one 6' tall weighing 180 pounds, the other 5'9" tall, weighing 165 pounds, both were wearing hoodies and dark-colored baggy pants, one had a bandana over his face.

• On Sunday at 5:55 p.m., a black woman (no age given) was walking in Exchange Place near Iberville Street when a black man came up and pulled an apron she was wearing off of her and punched her in the face. He fled toward Canal Street with the apron which contained $102 in cash and 2 checks. Again, no description of the perpetrator from a black victim.
  

***

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

Thom Kahler

Crime update 1.25.08

Sorting it out...

Almost quiet: I was about to launch a column that said, "Quiet before the storm," then the robbing hoods came out and spoiled several days of tranquility.

In broad daylight yesterday afternoon, a young punk attacked a 35-year-old white woman as she was leaving Verti Marte, Royal Street at Gov. Nicholls Street, at 3:07 p.m. He walked up behind her and grabbed her by the neck, turning her around. He demanded her purse, but when she refused he pulled a large survival-type knife, which changed her mind. She pursued the thief up Gov. Nicholls and recovered her purse near Dauphine Street, but her wallet and cash was missing.

Approximately 10 minutes later, a 16-year-old black boy was taken into custody who matched the description of the perpetrator. The victim positively identified him as the robber.

Related?: Two armed robberies yesterday morning in the CBD may or may not be related, though they happened about a half hour apart.

The first was at 5:30 a.m. when a black man held up a white man (no age given) who was walking to work at Tchoupitoulas and Girod streets. The robber brandished a dark-colored handgun and demanded money. He got all of $8 from the victim.

The robber was described as in his 20s, wearing a dark-colored trench coat.

The second was at 6:03 a.m. in the 700 block of S. Peters Street when a black man pulled a chrome-colored handgun on a 39-year-old white man and demanded money. He came up empty-handed except for the victim's cellphone.

The robber was described as in his late 20s, 5'9" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a camouflage jacket and a black stocking cap.

A.M., not P.M.: A NOcrimeline subscriber questioned whether there was actually a robbery in broad daylight last Friday (1.18.08) just after noon on Royal Street at St. Peter Street, just outside the old A&P, as the NOPD crime map indicated. I double-checked and assured him that's indeed what the map said. Then I got the report this week. It was 12:30 A.M, (just after midnight) rather than P.M. (just after noon).

That would explain how 2 black dudes could take their time kicking the crap out of a white guy and rob him. The victim, 31, was walking past the 2 black guys when one kicked him in the rear and knocked him to the ground. They both thugs kicked him about the face and body repeatedly. Finally, one reached into the victim's pocket and stole his wallet.

Both hoodlums were described as 20 to 25 years of age, 5'10'' to 5'11" tall, weighing 180 pounds. One was wearing a dark-colored jacket and White Sox baseball cap; the other was wearing a dark-colored oversized jacket and a yellow LSU baseball cap.

Same guys?: Friday night, this was about 6:30 p.m., a 44-year-old black man was attacked by 2 black thugs 2 blocks away at Royal and St. Louis Street in much the same way. One of the robbers choked the victim from behind and pushed him to the ground, while the other robber went through the victim's pockets and took his wallet.

The only description was of one of the perpetrators being 5'10"; there was no further description, nor a description of the other assailant. You'd think a brother would be able to describe another brother better than that. And you would certainly hope that it's not a case of the cops not taking a crime to a black victim as seriously as they do to a white victim.

Same girl?: 8th District detectives booked Ashley Netter, the woman-posing-as-a-man bandit, on Tuesday with another armed robbery. Netter, 23, was positively identified by the 3 victims of a robbery on 1.7.08 at Dauphine and Pauger streets.

A couple, he 31, she 29, and her 59-year-old mother were robbed just before 10 p.m. by what they thought was a black dude who looked like "Dr. Dre with a baseball cap" and as being in his early 30s, 5'9" tall, weighing 200 pounds, with a stocky build and a medium complexion, wearing a brown cap, black jacket and dark colored pants.

Netter, 23, whose last known address was in Kenner, was originally charged 1.11.08 with armed robbery with a firearm and flight from an officer for a robbery on 1.10.08 at 832 St. Peter St. A woman on her way to work at a strip club in the French Quarter at 10:19 p.m. was robbed by what she thought were 2 black men. Arrested along with Netter was Danielle Bigham, 21, last known address was in Garyville. Netter is now ensconced in OPP on $177,000 bond. Bigham is being held on $75,000 bond.

Not here: A robbery we've been reporting all week on NOcrimeline.com as having occurred Tuesday at 10:08 a.m. at Gov. Nicholls and N. Rampart streets did occur, but across from the French Quarter at St. Claude Avenue and Gov. Nicholls. The confusion probably came when the victim called 911 from the Rampart Street location. So that's in the NOPD's 1st District--and no, we don't have details on it, since that would require a whole other layer of bureaucracy.

***

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

Thom Kahler

Crime update 1.21.08

Win some, lose some...

Bar bandit bagged: The NOPD finally took down that black dude who robbed Cosimo's bar on 12.23.07 and Good Friends Bar on 1.6.08. After his image appeared in a video surveillance tape from Good Friends and the photograph circulated widely, Eric Lewis , 34, was arrested without incident on Friday by the Violent Offenders Warrant Squad. He was charged with 2 counts of armed robbery and is in OPP on $200,000 bond.

The question is: When 8th District detective Jason Giroir recognized Lewis as the same perpetrator who appeared in the Cosimo's surveillance tape and the NOPD issued a warrant for him in both robberies, why wasn't the public alerted? This guy was out there roaming bars in our neighborhood for nearly 2 weeks before he was captured. Might alerting residents have accelerated his apprehension? Lewis did appear in the Metropolitan Crime Commission's "Wanted" poster last Wednesday, 2 days before his arrest, but there's a tendency to think those on the poster are problems in someone else's neighborhood. Ain't necessarily so.

Teen thugs taken down: So what?, you might ask, considering how porous the city's juvenile facility is. But nevertheless, the NOPD apprehended 2 black boys, one 13 years old and the other 14, just moments after they robbed 2 white guys, one 21 and the other 28, at gunpoint in front of 508 Burgundy St. near St. Louis Street on Friday night around 7:10 p.m. No word on what the thieves got in the robbery.

The victims flagged down a passing police car and pointed out a gang of young punks running across N. Rampart Street. Police officers on foot pursued the miscreants into the Iberville Housing Development (doesn't it warm your heart to know we provide a refuge for the less-fortunate?) where they caught the one boy at 200 Marais St. and the other at 1400 Conti St. (that's a pretty good sprint--who says our officers are out of shape?) Shown the alleged robbers, both victims "immediately and positively identified both" as the perpetrators.

Since we can't give you the punks' names or show you their pictures because they're juveniles (wouldn't want to scar the little dears for life), here are their descriptions: one was a skinny dude, 5'10" tall and weighing 130 pounds; the other was a little pipsqueak, 5' tall and weighing 100 pounds. And, yes, at least one of them was wearing a "hoodie". Remember: "See a hoodie, report a hoodlum." One was from Baton Rouge (your mama know you're down here robbing white folk?); the other is local and his last known address is 2634 D'Abadie St., off of Broad Street, out by the Fairgrounds.

No country for old women: Okay, they weren't that old, only 55, 59, 62 and 67 years of age. But as white ladies from out of town they were no match for the 3 black guys--all wearing "hoodies"--they encountered in the 1100 block of Chartres Street near Gov. Nicholls Street around 9:26 p.m. Sunday night.

One of the thugs pulled out a small chrome revolver and demanded their purses. The youngest and oldest victims surrendered their purses to the thieves. The other two refused and began screaming. The robbers fled on Gov. Nicholls toward the river--if that's what the police report meant by "south"--right past Brad and Angelina's humble abode.

All the perpetrators were described as 18 to 20 years old, about 5'6" tall, weighing 140 pounds. Only the description of the "hoodies" was different: 2 were dark colored, the other white.

More robberies, no reports: There were 3 other robberies that showed up on the crime map last week, but we've not been able to obtain the police report on them. This might be attributed to an overworked officer who now has to rewrite the reports in the wake of The Big City Daily's demand for them; before he could just pull the reports up on the computer and email them to NOcrimeline. All we know is the location and time of the robberies:

• Thursday, 11:50 p.m., 544 Bourbon St.
• Friday, 12:30 p.m., Royal and St. Peter streets
• Friday, 6:30 p.m., Royal and St. Louis streets

Cut loose, but so what: The DA's office refused to prosecute a couple of cases last week, but they were more the kind that probably shouldn't have bogged down the court in the first place.

One case involved Joshua Blaise, a 34-year-old black homeless drug addict living under the Claiborne Avenue overpass, who was arrested 12.30.07 on Canal Street after trying to grab a man's camera case containing his wallet. The victim threw his hot coffee on the perpetrator and a witness wrestled Blaise to the ground and held him until police arrived. Blaise, who admits having a $200-a-day heroin habit, was charged with attempted simply robbery plus drug charges. Instead of facing those charges here, he's apparently waived extradition back to California where he's wanted on a warrant there.

The other case involved Gregory Myles, 25, who got into a tiff with a drinking buddy at the Dragon's Den Lounge on Frenchmen Street in the early morning hours of 12.19.07. When his buddy refused to pay for his drink too, he grabbed the money from his friend's hand and threatened to throw him over the balcony. It sounds like something the bartender should have settled with his baseball bat, but the offended buddy went downstairs and hailed the police, who wound up charging Myles with simple robbery.

I think these are the kind of cases the Metropolitan Crime Commission has in mind when it says the NOPD spends too much time on trivial cases rather than important one. Aren't these the kinds of cases where the cop is supposed to say, "Go on home, boys" with a sufficient warning to the wise?

***

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

Thom Kahler

Crime update 1.17.08

How you goin' keep 'em?

Another one gets away: Remember when those young punks were terrorizing the Marigny Triangle and what a celebration when one was finally arrested? Well, don't count your convictions before the DA gets done thinning the caseload flock.

She's turned loose Marshan Bowden, 17, who was arrested just a month after he was no longer a juvenile and charged with first-degree robbery and simple robbery. We just learned the DA refused on 12.27.07 to prosecute him on those charges, despite the victim positively identifying him in a photographic line-up as one of 3 perpetrators who robbed him 11.3.07 at Royal and Ursulines streets.

On Monday, the DA refused to prosecute him on another offense he was charged with on 11.23.07 for possession of stolen property over $500. (We've not been able to obtain the police report to know what that's about.)

Bowden, whose last known address is 1409 Frenchmen St., will be roaming your neighborhood again soon, if he's not already. Look at his picture and beware.

Tourists don't fare so well: Two tourists, one in the 900 block of Dumaine Street and the other in the 900 block of Orleans Street, met up with a couple of our scumbags in the last 2 days:

• At 7 p.m. Tuesday, a 20-year-old woman on Dumaine was accosted while on her way to her hotel by a black guy wielding a big black-handled knife and demanding her purse.

She told the robber she was "shocked" and didn't give it to him. (Hrumph's don't get you much around here, darling.) The police report says he "repeated himself 2 additional times before she complied and gave him her purse." (It makes it sound oh, so genteel, but I bet it wasn't.)

The bandit was described as 18-20 years old, 6'2" tall, weighing 180 pounds, and wearing dark clothing.

• At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, a 56-year-old man was walking on Orleans when 2 black dudes came up from behind and muscled him into the wall and demanded money. He surrendered $230 and they fled.

Both perpetrators were described as 18-25 years old, 6' tall and weighing 160 to 170 pounds. One was described as wearing a hoodie and the other a toboggan cap with short hair and a dark complexion.

Locals didn't fare much better : Robbers knocked over the Price Busters grocery store at 865 St. Charles St. at 10:23 a.m. on Tuesday.

Two black guys with bandanas covering their faces, both armed with semi-automatic pistols, pointed them at the clerk without saying anything. But he apparently knew the drill and opened the cash register. They scooped out between $1,000 and $2,000 in cash before fleeing up St. Joseph Street.

Both were described as in their 20s, one 5'8" tall weighing 155 pounds, and the other 6'1" tall and weighing 180 pounds.

On Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., a 37-year-old man was walking up the steps of his home in the 2000 block of N. Rampart Street when a black guy ran up behind him as he was pulling his house keys out of his pocket. The thug pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at him and demanded his money. The victim surrendered his wallet and cellphone.

The thief fled up Touro Street toward St. Claude Avenue. He was described as in his 20s, 5'8" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and had shoulder-length braided hair.

They're ready: No wonder more citizens are arming themselves. As one NOcrimeline subscriber said: "Our 911 button is going to be the trigger to our .38."
False rumors: "Don't believe any false rumors, unless you hear them from me." I had to steal that line from former mayor, Victor Schiro, in light of the wild stories floating around this week.

First, there was the email floating around from all directions that "a friend's mom who works at the Metro Juvenile DA's office called and said they have received 'credible' information from their gang prevention unit that there is about to be a major surge in gang initiations over the next few weeks...that would involve random shootings..."

Of course, no one could name the "friend", let alone the "mom", nor did they know what "DA's office" was involved. No one at NOPD knew what it was about, Snopes.com labeled it "false", and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand finally put it to rest on the evening news Wednesday night.

Then there was the one that bombarded us yesterday from several people that claimed "my dearest friend's son was carjacked and beaten on Dec. 17" while he was in the French Quarter. Someone named "Martha" goes through a whole litany about his ordeal. She ultimately contends, in capital letters no less, that "There were 5 CARJACKINGS that night, and in 2 of those, the car owners were shot" and further asserts, again in all capital letters, "NONE OF THIS WAS REPORTED IN THE NEWS."

None of the correspondents who sent me this email knew who "Martha" is, nor none were acquainted with a "Jan" it was originally sent to. And "Martha" doesn't explain how she knew there were 5 carjackings that night if "none of this was reported in the news."

Add to this the misfortune of the Big City Daily in erroneously reporting yesterday that a victim shot dead Tuesday in Central City was a notorious fugitive wanted for armed robbery and murder.

Supposedly 7 NOPD officers, some close to the investigation, confirmed the victim's identify to the misled reporter. But later a presumably official report identified the victim as someone else.

I always appreciate tips and additional information from NOcrimeline subscribers, but I always make sure I check on claims that--all together now--"seem to be too good (or bad) to be true, probably are." Usually by asking "how do you know what you think you know?" diffuses misinformation. (And bookmark Snopes.com on your computer.)

You could save yourself a lot of embarrassment by asking that question of yourself before you perpetuate emails from dubious sources. The tremendous human desire to know something that no one else knows--and to communicate it--seems to get the best of too many people.

Here's an idea: Lt. Gen. Russel Honore--the "John Wayne dude" who saved New Orleans' butt after the storm--retired from the Army last week. What characterized him from the other post-disaster players was he acted while others talked. He famously told his staff, "You're looking at your calendars; I'm looking at my watch!" What if Mayor Nagin, who gave the general the cowboy appellation, appointed him police chief? I could imagine him saying, "You're talking about solving crimes; I'm talking about preventing them!"

***

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thom Kahler

Crime update 1.14.08

Arresting developments

Charges pile up: One of the 2 black dudes arrested for a couple of robberies early last Tuesday added some frequent-felon points in a couple of other crimes the previous night.

Renard Prevost (right) who was charged along with his buddy, Romalice Tate, in 2 armed robberies near Commerce and Julia streets, was positively identified by the parking lot attendant as the guy who held her up Monday night (1.7.08) at the lot at N. Peters and St. Philip streets; she was not certain about Tate.

Two Ohio tourists who came upon Sgt. Troy Williams as he was investigating the Tuesday robberies and noticed Prevost, whom they identified as the perpetrator who robbed them early Monday morning a couple of blocks from the current scene.

Prevost, 20, was additionally charged with the parking lot robbery; he was not charged in the robbery of the Ohio victims because they said they would not return to New Orleans to testify at a trial.

Prevost is now in OPP in lieu of $450,000 bond on 3 charges of armed robbery, 2 of felon with a firearm, and 1 of aggravated battery, plus a host of municipal warrants. Tate is locked up on $250,000 bond on 2 charges of armed robbery.

Another day, another bar: It seems almost that bad. A black guy who'd been 86'd last Wednesday from the Ninth Circle bar at 700 N. Rampart St. because he had no ID, came back an hour and a half later at 1:50 a.m. and held up the bartender as he was taking out the trash.

The robber pulled a small black semiautomatic handgun from his waistband and forced the bartender back inside of the bar, where he forced him to open the cash register and place the money on the counter. He also demanded that the victim give up his wallet, which he did, removing about $60 from his wallet and placing it on the bar next to the cash register.

The robber then forced the bartender to the back room and demanded that he open the safe. When the bartender replied that he did not know the code, the robber demanded that he call his manager and obtain the code. The bartender called the manager and received a code but was still unable to open the safe. (I'm scratching my head. Isn't the point where the manager should be calling the police?)

The robber then walked with the victim back to the register at the front of the bar, retrieved the $60 from the victim's wallet and $396 from the cash register and forced the victim to sit in the back room while he fled.

The perpetrator was described as 20 to 25 years old, 5'8" tall, weighing 200 pounds, with a round face, dark complexion, clean shaven and short hair, wearing a black hoodie, cargo shorts, and a light blue shirt.

Suspect's photo in earlier bar robbery: The NOPD has released a photo from a video surveillance camera of the suspect in the robbery of the Good Friends Bar, Dauphine and St. Ann streets, at 7:30 a.m. on 1.6.08.

The robber took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled up Dauphine to Orleans Street where he got into a small black car driven by another black guy. The car sped down Orleans to N. Rampart Street.

8th District NOPD Detective Jason Giroir, recognized this suspect as the same one who robbed Cosimo's bar, Burgundy and Gov. Nicholls streets on 12.23.07.

The suspect was described as a black male, 30 to 35 years-old, 5'8" to 5'11" tall, with "a broad nose, large lips and wide eyes" (I kid you not. That's how the NOPD press release described him) . He was wearing a dark shirt and jeans; earlier reports had him wearing a black T-shirt under the black leather jacket.

Citizens with information that can help solve this crime are asked to call Crimestoppers at 822-1111. You could receive a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect. You do not have to give your name nor testify to receive the reward.

One robbery, not two: A NOcrimeline subscriber who thought he had come upon the investigation of an armed robbery in the 900 block of Barracks Street last Tuesday morning actually encountered he aftermath of an earlier robbery in the 1200 block of Bourbon Street.

In that robbery, which occurred about 4 a.m., 4 LSU students, 3 men and a woman, all in their 20s, were headed to a residence in the 900 block of Barracks when they were held up by what they thought were 2 black men with their faces partially concealed by bandanas. One of the robbers wearing a hoodie pulled a gun and demanded the victims' wallets and then fled when the mission was accomplished.

Hitting close to home: The robbery last Monday (1.7.08) at 9:55 p.m. that had me worried because I had just passed by there shortly before was indeed close to home for 2 of the victims.

The couple, he 31, she 29, live just up the street from Dauphine and Pauger streets where they, and her 59-year-old mother from Uptown, were robbed by a black dude who looked like "Dr. Dre with a baseball cap." (That's not very descriptive for those of us not into rap music.)

The robber approached the trio as they were getting into their car. He stuck a chrome-plated semi-automatic handgun into the chest of the older woman and demanded her purse, which he grabbed along with a gold necklace from around her neck. When he demanded the man's wallet and was told he didn't have one, the robber fled up Pauger toward St. Claude Avenue.

The "Dr. Dre" look-alike was further described as in his early 30s, 5'9" tall, weighing 200 pounds, with a stocky build and a medium complexion, wearing a brown cap, black jacket and dark colored pants.

"Boys will be boys, and girls will be boys too, sometimes": Reminds me of an old Steve Goodman song. But for a robbery victim Thursday night, it wasn't amusing. The woman (no DOB given in the police report) was on her way to work at a strip club in the French Quarter when she was accosted at Dauphine and St. Peter streets at 10:19 p.m. by what she thought were 2 black men, one with a gun, who demanded her money. The victim turned over a $100 bill and her cellphone and the robbers fled.

Two 8th District officers noticed the suspects fleeing and gave chase. When they apprehended the 2 suspects, it was discovered they were both female. Arrested were: Ashley Netter, 23, (right), last known address was in Kenner; and Danielle Bigham, 21, (photo unavailable), last known address was in Garyville. Netter was charged with armed robbery with a firearm and flight from an officer; she is being held on $77,000 bond in OPP. Bigham was charged with armed robbery with a firearm and is being held on $75,000 bond.

The 2 women are suspects in at least one other French Quarter robbbery.

Sound familiar?: A NOcrimeline subscriber warned us 2 weeks ago of 2 young white males in their 20s, which he described as "skinheads", cruising the Lower Quarter in a large older model black pickup truck in the early morning hours.

Could this have been the duo responsible for 2 muggings in the Quarter on Sunday morning?

At 6:35 a.m., a 36-year-old white man from Harvey was walking in the 800 block of Toulouse Street, between Bourbon and Dauphine streets, when a champagne-colored pickup truck pulled along side of him. The passenger asked the man for directions to I-10 while the driver got out and punched the victim in the face, demanding money. The robbers took the victim's book bag and fled on Bourbon toward Esplanade (presumably in the pickup truck, though the police report doesn't say).

At 6:45 a.m., a 48-year-old black man was walking on Esplanade Avenue at Bourbon Street when he was approached by a dark-colored pickup truck. The passenger, just like in the previous incident, asked for directions to I-10 while the driver got out, punched the victim, and took his wallet.

In both cases, the bad guys were described as white/Hispanic in their 20s, 5'9" to 5'10" tall, weighing 200 pounds, one wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt and blue jeans, and the other with no shirt, white pants, white shoes and a gold-colored hat.

Police think it might be an isolated spree, but considering the warning from the NOcrimeline subscriber, I'd be paying attention to dark pickups occupied by Hispanics cruising the Quarter, man.

West Side Story on the fringe: A group of 6 (okay, I won't call them a gang) of Hispanic men were walking on Iberville Street near N. Rampart Street at about 4:06 a.m. Sunday morning when they got into a verbal altercation with several black kids, 18 to 20 years old.

As the 2 gangs (couldn't resist it) passed, several gunshots rang out. A 29-year-old Hispanic man from Covington discovered he'd been shot twice in the right side of the chest.

The Hispanic bunch (there, is that better?) fled toward Bienville Street, while the black boys fled toward Burgundy Street.

There, that wasn't so bad, was it?: Some of those previous accounts are based on the first of the "new" reports that have been redacted by the 8th District NOPD in case they fall into the hands of the Big City Daily's reporters. I didn't notice much change, did you?

We may never again get the colorful--or salty--comments of the perpetrators, like "We be da poleeze!", but it looks like we'll still get detailed on information on crimes in our neighborhoods so we can take precautions.

Let's just hope that the clumsy and belated efforts by the TP to get similar reports doesn't screw up our pipeline to that information.

Speaking of belated efforts, TP City Editor David Meeks (He used to be the sports editor, so what's he know about crime? Wait a minute, I take that back--he used to cover sports) claims the newspaper has been fighting for these records for a long time alone "because before the flood New Orleans was known as a place with an apathetic citizenry."

What planet is he from? You can characterize the citizens of New Orleans in a lot of ways, but "apathetic" is not one of them. New Orleanians--of any age, of any race, of any neighborhood--have an opinion on everything whether they know anything about it or not.

The fact remains that the TP has largely sat on its butt regarding neighborhood crime news since the storm. Let's hope that its current efforts to once again generate timely crime news meets with success--but not at the expense of what residents of the 8th District are already getting through Nocrimeline.com.

"Hoodie"=hoodlum: Yeah, I know "hoodie" is what hooded sweatshirts are now called--even I used to have one that I loved dearly (I wonder what happed to it--I hope it didn't fall into the wrong hands).

Remember when the "uniform" of the street thugs was dreadlocks? Now it seems to be hoodies. When a detective arrested 2 suspects last week and was impounding the car driven by the duo, he noticed "hoodies in the rear seat, which were similar to ones described by the victim and a witness" to another armed robbery, leading to more charges against the pair.

Maybe when you see someone wearing a hoodie coming toward you, assume the worst. And have your finger on the 911 button.

***

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thom Kahler

Crime update 1.11.08

Okay, here's the deal...

Reporting reports: Yesterday's alarm that the crime reports NOcrimeline is receiving from the 8th District might be curtailed prompted response from many of you, some by attending last night's NONPAC meeting and others by emailing fierce support for our service.

First, let me make it clear that the Times-Picayune in no way was trying to curtail the information we have been receiving from the 8th District for the last 10 months. They just wanted to receive the same information from here and the rest of the districts that make up the NOPD. That's fair enough and the way it should be.

But for some reason, the T-P's request to Capt. Hosli (excuse me, he's now Major--all the district commanders were elevated to major yesterday) some how freaked out the powers-that-be--perhaps because it came with a threat to sue if the information wasn't forthcoming. As I understand it, he consulted with the NOPD's Public Information Office and was told whatever he gave NOcrimeline he had to give the T-P too. So rather than give the T-P copies of the official crime reports he's been sharing with us, he decided that in the future an abbreviated account of each crime would be written by the 8th District and given to the media daily--NOcrimeline and the T-P alike.

At first glance, I see little or no difference in what I had been receiving and the new report. In a meeting this morning with Lt. Eddie Selby and Ofc. Brian Shubert (who compiles the reports) I was given a new-style abbreviated report and shown the official report like I used to get. The only thing missing in the new version was detail I wasn't likely to use anyway, such as routine police procedures. (And it appears I'll be spared the "east-west-north-south" directions the detectives insist on using, rather than the proper New Orleans nomenclature of "up river, down river, toward the lake, toward the river.)

At last night's NONPAC meeting--attended by a larger than usual crowd--Lt. Selby tried to explain to the citizens there that "we have to curtail the verbiage"--but assured them "you are going to get the same information as before without all the other stuff, like witnesses names, etc." and "you're going to know every single thing that happens in your neighborhood."

For the record, I've always withheld the name of the victims and witnesses. And I've made sure not to mention, as the reports often do, that a victim would be able to identify perpetrators in a lineup. I didn't want the perp showing up at the victim's door and saying, "Recognize me?" Bang-bang.

The question poised by a citizen Lt. Selby couldn't answer last night was "What information that the Times-Picayune wants makes you so nervous?"

The Times-Picayune contends--and I believe rightfully so--that these crime reports are public records and should be revealed to the media. The paper is going to pursue efforts to get the NOPD to open up its crime reports citywide, not just in the 8th District. They've relied on diplomacy since the storm without any success. Now they may unleash lawsuits, which the T-P has used in the past with great success to free up information.

It was this lack of information in the T-P since the storm that led to the birth of NOcrimeline. Our efforts have concentrated on the 8th District (French Quarter, Marigny Triangle, CBD). None of the other 7 police districts provide the information that the 8th District has been providing for the past 10 months, fully, honestly and transparently.

Let's see how it goes. If I feel we're not getting all the information about crime we deserve, I'll yell louder and longer than anyone. I'll make a T-P lawsuit seem like a party invitation.

Not tooting our own horn, but...: The outpouring of kind comments from subscribers yesterday in response to the alarm email was gratifying. A couple in particular captured the essence of what NOcrimeline is attempting to do.

One in particular, by a woman who describes herself as "a single woman living alone in the French Quarter, epitomized our goal: "Because of this information, I have not been robbed, beaten, raped or murdered. I know where there are trouble spots and who is causing the trouble so I can avoid conflict. I also pass the information on to my friends so they can protect themselves."

Another, by a woman who just bought a home in the Quarter, was more detailed. She had contemplated moving from New Orleans after the storm because of the crime problem: "Since I began to receive the level of relevant and time sensitive crime related data that you provide, I felt more in control and actually, more at ease in not only living in the quarter, but also entertaining here...Your reports have enabled me to govern my own comings and goings, and those of my visiting friends based on real, unbiased warnings regarding what I can do to avoid being a victim...Nobody visiting me, nor anybody in family has been harmed or robbed."

Instead, she bought a home here: "Once I was made aware of your NOcrimeline mailing list and began to receive your regular reports I began to feel a little better about living here, in general. The crime in the Lower Quarter is bad, very bad, but your reporting helps to make it something tangible and real and something that feels easier to live with...and because your accurate reporting made the whole crime problem feel less overwhelming, we made plans to continue to live in the city and even make a permanent investment by buying a property rather than moving away simply because of crime."

She went on to say: "Even while shopping for the property, I used the information from your reporting to help me make a decision as to location. Personal safety was at the top of the list of priorities, even above square footage!"

Noting the need for NOcrimeline, she said that without it: "...as bad as crime is in the Lower Quarter, rumor and speculation will make it feel even worse...Without your information, we would be either armed, become prisoners in our own homes, or we would simply leave."

I hope NOcrimeline has a similar impact on your lives. If it does, we're achieving our goal.

***

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thom Kahler