Crime update 2.19.08

Okay, now where were we?

Nothing like the post-Mardi Gras flu to lay you low. After embracing germs from around the world during Carnival, some hang around like a bad parade route guest. But let the coughing and hacking take care of those stragglers and let's see if we can figure out what's been happening for the past couple of weeks.

Persistent punks: 2 black boys were bound and determined to go for a ride on Saturday night (2.9.08), albeit in someone else's car. They first came upon a 21-year-old white guy in the 600 block of Kerlerec Street (at Chartres Street) around 7:25 p.m. and pulled a gun on him, demanding his car keys. The victim gave them up and fled on foot. The only trouble was: the young blighters didn't know how to drive a stick-shift.

Less than 20 minutes later and 6 blocks away, they came upon an elderly couple backing their car out of their driveway in the 800 block of Gov. Nicholls Street (between Bourbon and Dauphine streets) at 7:43 p.m. One of the thugs pulled the man, reported in other sources as 81 yeas old, from behind the steering wheel, while his accomplice dragged his 79-year-old wife from the passenger seat. The young thugs commandeered the car and almost immediately ran into a parked car.

A short while later, police apprehended 2 black boys (identified only as "juveniles" with no ages or names given) who matched the descriptions given by the victims.

I don't know how promptly the first incident was called in to 911, but you might think that cops responding to that call might have spotted the culprits while enroute and could have spared the elderly couple the trauma they went through. A good argument for calling 911 IMMEDIATELY.

Shooter arrested: The NOPD arrested 18-year-old Louis Handy on 2.7.08 at about 7 a.m. in the 1400 block of Arts Street and charged him with attempted murder.

He is accused of shooting 2 other black dudes on Lundi Gras in the 100 block of Bourbon Street at 1:22 a.m. 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.

More shooting: Just like the Wild West, a 21-year-old woman from Folsom was firing her gun into the air in the 800 block of St. Louis Street near Bourbon Street at 6:08 a.m. Saturday when cops arrived on the scene. As they approached, she took aim at them. When she refused to put her weapon down, one of the officers fired at her but missed (where did that bullet go?). Figuring she would have been dead meat if the officers could shoot straight, she put her weapon down.

Booked with 2 counts of attempted murder was Calizza Coyne. She's sitting in OPP on $350,000 bond.

The 8th District wouldn't supply any more information about this incident. Major Edwin Hosli, commander of the local gendarmes, brushed off citizens' interest in this incident since the victims were police officers. I dunno, if I'd been out on the streets at that hour I might care greatly. Where did her bullets land? And suppose she had decided to shoot horizontally instead of vertically. How many shooting rampages do we need before we do something about all the nut cases out there? Not interested? I'd say we have reason to be way interested.

Still more shooting: Information on the triple shooting at 12:57 a.m. Monday morning, shortly after the NBA All-Star game, in the 300 block of Decatur Street is sketchy at best, but Maj. Hosli insists everything that is known has been given to the press. If this is all the NOPD knows, it ain't much.

The NOPD's PR flak was a fount of minimal information:

• the victims were believed to be two 24-year-old women, one from New Orleans, who was struck in both legs, and one from Galveston, who was struck in one leg, and a 18-year-old man from Florida who was struck in "one or both" calves.
• they were taken to "one or more" hospitals, 2 by ambulances and the other "by private vehicle or ambulance."
• he didn't know if they were the intended targets or hit by stray gunfire.
• he didn't know whether the shooter or shooters were on foot or in a vehicle.

The incident happened outside Club Dreams at 309 Decatur St., a site of increasing late night mayhem. Back in January, a beer bottle fight sent an early-morning patron there to the hospital.

Welcome to New Orleans, now give it up: A 24-year-old black man, who may or may not have been a tourist (the police report doesn't say), was robbed in the restroom of Chris Owens Club, 500 Bourbon St., early Sunday morning at 12:10 a.m.

Two of the brothers pulled a gun on him and demanded his money. He gave up $200 and the robbers fled on foot down St. Louis Street where they were apprehended as they reached N. Rampart Street.

Arrested and charged with armed robbery were Ronald Washington and Donovan Rayfield, both 22.

Big toys for big boys: Much was made of the picture in the TP this week of Mayor Nagin wielding a M-4 in a way that looked like he was going to effect a regime change at the NOPD with Chief Riley in his sights.

Film footage showed the 2 just horsing around with some of the $l+ million robocop armaments the state just gave the city. It's part of a $6.6 million grant for "crime fighting equipment or strategies."

I'm not sure what Iraq-worthy weapons are going to do to reduce armed robberies in the Quarter, but I think a little more ought to be spend on those "strategies."

Speaking of which: WWL-TV made a big to-do last week out of sending a reporter to New York City to find out how that city reduced its crime rate so drastically. And her discovery? "Something called community policing" and what she called "Compstat". She could have stayed home and done her homework.

She would have found that Chief Richard Pennington instituted those measures here in 1995 and by 1999 the TP headline was trumpeting "City outpaces U.S. reducing violent crime"--long before it took hold in NYC. While crime nationwide was dropping 6.42%, in New Orleans it decreased 18.43%. That year, homicides dropped to 159, the lowest rate in decades.

That was then, this is now. There's little out there now that resembles "community policing" other than hot air talking about it. Comstat (as it's called here) is a weekly pow-wow of the district commanders in which they're supposed to outline their crimefighting strategies. Little concrete comes out of those meetings to reduce crimes. The same old, same old prevails.

The closest to a true Comstat effort came this past summer when the Lower Quarter and Marigny Triangle was plagued by 22 robberies in July. Lt. Eddie Selby mustered as many men as he could (with no help from headquarters) to flood the area with cops--the overriding principal of Comstat. In August, robberies dropped to virtually nil.

Ah, for the good old days.

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

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.

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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.
  

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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.

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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?

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

Thom Kahler