Last minute thefts: Phones

Grab and go: Just before Christmas, cellphones were the target of thieves who snatched the devices from the hands of users who were distracted by what was more important than what was lurking around them:

• Wednesday (12.23.09) 10:35 p.m.: A white guy had his phone grabbed in the 800 block of St. Peter Street (between Bourbon and Dauphine streets) by a black punk, 15 to 19 years old, 5'4" tall, weighing 140 pounds, wearing a multi-colored jacket, long white T-shirt and baggy blue jeans.

• Wednesday (12.23.09) 11:28 p.m.: A white man walking in the 700 block of Barracks Street (between Bourbon and Royal streets) was robbed by 2 black dudes and 2 black chicks. The men grabbed the victim and the women rummaged through his pockets to get his wallet and cellphone.

One of the men was described as 5'7" tall with a medium build; there was no description of the other man. One woman was described as 5'8" tall, petite with shoulder-length hair; the other was described as 5'5" tall, weighing 140 pounds, with short hair.

• Wednesday (12.23.09) 11:56 p.m.: A white man walking near Bourbon and Toulouse streets had his phone stolen away by a big black man, 6' tall, weighing 180 pounds, with a medium build, wearing a dark knit cap.

• Thursday (12.24.09) 1:28 a.m.: About an hour and a half later and a block away, what is believed to be the same thief, struck again at Bourbon and St. Peter streets. He grabbed the phone of a white man, who described him looking like the previous robber, but adding detail of short hair and wearing a black sweatshirt and blue jeans.

• Sunday (12.20.09) 10:30 p.m.: This time the robbers came armed. A duo of young black punks pulled a pistol on a white guy walking in the 1000 block of Iberville Street (between Burgundy and N. Rampart streets). They took his money and cellphone from his pockets.

Apparently the victim wasn't too bothered by it; he didn't report the incident until the next day. The robbers, who were long gone by that time, were described identically as 18 to 20 years old, 6' tall with thin builds, wearing dark hoodies.

Word on the street is that thieves are trying to bag iPhones, which apparently are in high demand in the 'hood. The cautionary tale is this: if you're walking down the street talking on your cellphone, you're not paying any more attention to what's happening around you than a driver is. Put the damn thing down and be alert to your surroundings--not being alert is what gets people robbed. If you must make a call or receive one, put your back to the wall and keep an eye out while talking.

In between: On that same busy evening (12.23.09), a black guy reached over the counter at the Cajun Country Store, 400 Canal St., around 10:35 p.m. and grabbed money from the cash register. The perp, who fled on foot up Magazine Street, was described as 35 to 40 years old, 5'8" tall, weighing 150 pounds, with a dark complexion, wearing a white and blue-stripped shirt, blue undershirt and blue jeans.

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

Thom Kahler

Weird crimes...and more

Ticketed: It's one thing to rob us, rape us and shoot us, it's another thing to mess with the NFL.

Around noon Saturday (12.19.09) on game day, 8th District officers Tracie Medus and Louis Labat caught Calvin E. Harris in the 200 block of Bourbon Street allegedly peddling phony tickets to the Saints-Cowboys football game that night.

Harris, 41, of New York, was well known to the National Football League, which had posted a bulletin on Harris for selling counterfeit tickets after being convicted in Washington and New York, and being wanted in Texas on a warrant in similar incidents.

The 8th District cops confiscated approximately $2,700 in cash and 17 counterfeit tickets from Harris before charging him specifically with "illegal use of a counterfeit trademark."

Magistrate Rudy Gorrell slapped a $100,000 bond on him and so he sits in OPP awaiting a court date on 2.17.10.

The gang that couldn't shoot straight: A car load of Hispanic youths was loitering in the 500 block of Frenchmen Street (between Decatur and Chartres streets) just before 4 a.m. Saturday (12.19.09) when the driver decided to unload his pistol. The gun fired and struck his girlfriend, sitting in the passenger seat, in the back.

The driver rushed the victim, Jennifer Zometa, 18, to Tulane University Hospital where she was listed in critical condition. Hospital officials contacted 8th District detectives who quizzed the 4 men who had been in the car when the incident occurred. After an assortment of conflicting statements, Dominque Valera, 18, of Metairie, confessed he had a gun while in the car and that it fired, striking the victim. He and his cohorts told police where they had discarded the weapon, which officers later recovered.

The police charged Valera with negligent injuring and obstruction of justice. He is being held on $85,000 bond. Police said they charged the other 3 guys in the car, Carlos Paz, 19, Orlando Valera, 22, and Louis Alverez, 19, all from Kenner, with obstruction of justice. But only Carlos Paz' name is listed in court records. Considering the NOPD's difficulty with spelling Hispanic names correctly, they may be buried in the files with different spellings of their name.

Out of the pool: A friendly game of pool turned out to be anything but at The R Bar, 1431 Royal St., on Sunday (12.13.09).

A white guy and a black guy got into an argument. It ended when the black guy walloped the white guy with a pool cue. He took off running to a silver- or white-colored car on Kerlerec Street and sped off toward Bourbon Street.

The attacker was described as 20 to 30 years old, 6'2" tall, weighing 175 pounds, with a thin build, medium complexion and shoulder-length dreadlocks, wearing a white dress shirt and gray pants.

Robbing in the hood: A few robberies have sullied the season, though not as many as in recent holiday seasons:

• Sunday (12.20.09) 12:55 a.m.: A white guy walking in the 700 block of Burgundy Street (near St. Ann Street) when 2 other white guys came up. One punched the victim, knocking him to the ground, while the other grabbed the guy's wallet. They fled on St. Ann toward Decatur Street.

They are described as in their mid-20's, with thin builds, one with short dirty blond hair and wearing a dark shirt and dark pants.

• Monday (12.14.09) 12:25 a.m.: A black man walking in the 800 block of Bienville Street (between Bourbon and Dauphine streets) was approached by 2 black dudes on a bicycle. One hopped off the handlebars and pulled a pistol, demanding the victim's money. The victim complied and the robber hopped back on the handlebars as the bike rode off toward N. Rampart Street.

The robbers were described as 16 to 19 years old, one 5'5" tall, weighing 135 pounds, with a thin build and medium complexion, wearing a dark hoodie and blue jeans; the other was 5'6" all, weighing 140 pounds, with a thin build, medium complexion, and short hair, wearing a black T-shirt.

• Saturday (12.12.09) 3:27 a.m.: Two white men, one 57 and the other 45, along with a white woman, 46, were robbed by a black guy with a gun as they walked in the 200 block of Julia Street (between S. Peters and Fulton streets).

The robber, who fled toward Convention Center Boulevard, was described as 25 to 30 years old, 5'10" tall, weighing 170 pounds, with a thin build, medium complexion and thick moustache and beard, wearing a black jacket.

• Saturday (12.12.09) 11:28 p.m.: A white woman walking in the 500 block of Gov. Nicholls Street (near Brad and Anjolie's place) had her cellphone snatched by a black guy. He fled to a black 4-door sedan with tinted windows on Decatur Street which sped down Ursulines Street toward N. Rampart Street.

The robber is described as 5'11" tall, weighing 160 pounds, with a thin build, wearing a dark hoodie and dark jeans.

• Friday (12.11.09) 6:50 a.m.: A black man robbed The John bar, 2040 Burgundy St. (at Frenchmen Street) at gunpoint. He reportedly got a substantial amount of money from the bar's cash register and poker bag, along with the purse of a 52-year-old patron at the bar.

The robber was wearing a black ski mask and a black hoodie and dark jeans, and stood 5'10" tall.

• Wednesday (12.9.09) 2:30 p.m.: A white man walking to his car in the parking garage at 145 University Pl. (near the Roosevelt Hotel) was robbed by 2 black dudes. Though he gave up his cash as asked, one of the robbers shot him in the leg anyway.

The robbers were described as in their 20's, one 6' tall, weighing 200 pounds, with a dark complexion, short hair and wearing a dark green jacket; the other was 5'8" tall, weighing 150 pounds, with a brown complexion and short twists in his hair, wearing a black hoodie.

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

Thom Kahler

What to make of it all

Robberies? What robberies?: It's hard to believe, but there's been only one robbery reported in the 8th District (French Quarter, Marigny Triangle, CBD) in the past 2 weeks. And in that case, the would-be robber got the crap beat out of him so badly by the would-be victim it's hard to tell who the victim was. What happened was this:

Last Saturday night (12.5.09) around 11:40 p.m., a Lucky Dog vendor was working the intersection of Royal and Iberville streets when Gregory Garmany, 42, came up and asked for a dollar. When the vendor refused to give him one, Garmany allegedly pulled out a knife. This time, according to the police report, "the victim defended himself."

To look at Garmany's booking mugshot taken at Central Lockup shows why you don't mess with an ex-Marine, which the Lucky Dog guy reportedly is. Garmany, in the words of the police, "got his ass stomped." They had to wait for him to get out of the hospital before they could book him for attempted armed robbery.

Tourist go home: This one is not likely to anytime soon. Okay, so you're driving in a strange city and you accidentally turn the wrong way down a one-way street. If you get stopped by the cops, you take your ticket, get turned around the right way, and leave quietly.

But Michael Isble, 35, of Ft. Pierce, FL, had other ideas when he was stopped last Thursday morning (12.3.09) around 4 a.m. driving the wrong way on Conti Street near Dauphine Street. As one 8th District officer questioned Isble, the other officer stepped behind the car to record its license tag number.

That's when Isble allegedly threw the car into reverse, striking the unnamed officer and breaking his hand, before dashing off down Dauphine for 3 blocks with another cop car in pursuit. He crashed his car in the 100 block of Baronne Street, just across Canal Street, and then hopped out of the car and tried to flee on foot before cops proved swifter and caught up with him.

When it was all said and done, Isble was charged with attempted 1st-degree murder, public intimidation of a police officer, resisting a police officer and flight from an officer. He is being held on $135,000 bond on those charges. Plus he was charged with 10 traffic violations, including hit-and-run driving, no seat belt, no proof of insurance, among others.

Strangely enough, or not, he didn't appear to be drunk since he wasn't ticketed for DUI. So why was he so eager to flee?

You heard it here first: Hopefully you read Brendan McCarthy's story in the T-P on Sunday about Big Chief Warren Riley being criticized for meting out unequal discipline to his cops.

In the article, Jim Gallagher, of the local lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, claims Riley is motivated by the publicity generated by an officer's misconduct. He's quoted as saying: "If the case gets public notice, the superintendent acts one way, and if it doesn't get notice, he acts another way."

What's gone unmentioned is Riley's racism which clouds his decisions on whether or not to dismiss officers. While our evidence is anecdotal, we've heard repeated tales of white officers being fired by Riley while a black officer draws a brief suspension for the same infraction. (See NOcrimeline.com for 8.19.09)

No surprises there: You probably weren't surprised to read this morning's T-P headline: "NOPD performance satisfies only 1/3 of residents surveyed."

The survey, released by the New Orleans Crime Coalition, shows what you already know: That New Orleans residents are not satisfied with the job the NOPD is doing. But did you know that their dissatisfaction has as much to do with how they're treated by cops as it is by the crime rate.

What is maybe surprising is the number of residents of the 8th District who are dissatisfied. There's no indication they're specifically dissatisfied with the 8th District, but an analysis of the findings in the survey indicate that the residents of the 8th District:

• are better educated;
• have initiated more contact with police than other districts, and
• have lived in the 8th District (mainly French Quarter) a shorter time than residents of other parts of the city (leading them to be more apt to make comparisons with how things where they lived before--"up North we did it this way...")
  

Incidentally, the New Orleans results particularly pall in comparison with Nashville, TN, where 84% of the citizens are satisfied with their police department. The police chief there is Ronal Serpas, former chief of operations in New Orleans, who should be seriously considered for chief here under a new mayor.
Speaking of which: We should know by Friday all the candidates for mayor. Be sure to quiz them every chance you get on who they would appoint as the new police chief.

As we said before, pester them until you get an answer that has a first name and last name. Don't settle for any of that ambiguous crap, "We'll conduct a nationwide search."

If Riley's leaving when Mayor Nagin does as he promised, the new mayor is going to have to name a new chief on day-one. Even if it's an interim chief, the new mayor should know someone in the NOPD who can serve right away.

If a candidate for mayor doesn't know who they'll name, they haven't thought about the crime problem enough.

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

Thom Kahler

Ahem...mayhem

Graffiti gangsters: While all right-thinking Americans were watching the Saints put an asswhipping on the Patriots on Monday night (11.30.09), a gang of graffiti terrorists were wrecking havoc in the French Quarter.

A loosely-knit international group billed as "Reclaim The Streets" was trying to muster a rally protesting the futility of prisons by demanding freedom for rappers "Lil Wayne" and "Lil Boosie", a couple of local punks who've pled guilty to various crimes.

In their nationwide publicity for the rally, they called for demonstrators to fill Canal Street from Rampart to Decatur streets. The best they would do was block traffic in the first block of Burgundy from Canal to Iberville Street with police barricades, metal garbage cans, and pieces of concrete, and then hang a sloppily-painted banner on a street post at Canal and Royal Street. Then 6 of them were caught spray painting graffiti on the front of 915 Conti St. (between Burgundy and Dauphine streets) around 9 p.m.

Off-duty military police reported the incident to 8th District cops and several officers on foot patrol gave chase and apprehended the miscreants nearby. They were charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest by fleeing, and criminal damage to property for the graffiti. The police didn't release the perps' names, but 3 were listed as homeless, 2 from Monroe and the other from Pennsylvania.

Game casualties?: Hard to tell whether it was poor losers (Southern) or over-exuberant winners (Grambling) after the Bayou Classic football game Saturday afternoon, but by Sunday (11.29.09), 7 men had been shot and one woman stabbed.

• Just before 2 a.m., 2 black dudes, 19 and 28 years old, got into an argument with another dude in the 700 block of Canal Street (between Carondelet Street and St. Charles Avenue). Rather than lose the argument, the lone dude pulled out a pistol and shot each of his adversaries. One was shot several times and the other once in the stomach. Both were in critical condition at LSU Interim Public Hospital.

The shooter was described as in his early 20's, 6' tall, weighing 150 pounds, with a light complexion and short hair, and wearing a white shirt and gray pants.

• Then an hour later, at 3:06 a.m., another argument broke out between 2 men in the 400 block of Bourbon Street (near St. Louis Street) and again, rather than lose an argument, one of them pulled out a gun and started firing. When the smoke had cleared, 5 men, ranging in age from 18 to 33, were left wounded, including a 20-year-old who was shot in the stomach and listed in critical condition at LSU Interim Public Hospital where all the victims were taken.

The assailant was described as 5'10" tall, weighing 300 pounds, with medium dreadlocks.

• The night before (11.28.09) and a block away, 2 black chicks got into it in the 500 block of Bourbon Street (between St. Louis and Toulouse streets) at 11:30 p.m. Apparently acquaintances (but not necessarily friends), the pair got into an argument and the 22-year-old woman felt a pain in her leg and discovered she had been stabbed. She was treated at West Jefferson Hospital and released.
  

8th District detectives showed her a photo line-up and she positively identified Shaquita Coleman, 20, as the woman who knifed her. A warrant has been issued for Coleman's arrest.

Foul smelling, foul play?: It's too early to tell if the body of a dead man fished from under the wharf on the river near Conti Street on Monday (11.30.09) afternoon was the result of a homicide.

The body was discovered by a homeless man who stays under the wooden walkway. The coroner's office said the body appears to be of a man in his 40's and had probably been dead for a few days and had washed up on the rocky shore.

An autopsy was schedule for today (12.1.09).

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

Thom Kahler

Black Wednesday

Even blacker Friday: A black thug--maybe trying to get a jump on the holiday bar robbery season--struck 2 bars in the Marigny Triangle and possibly another in the Marigny Rectangle on Wednesday (11.25.09) morning.

But 8th District detectives arrested James M. Wilson, 31, last night (11.27.09) just before midnight. He was charged with armed robbery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery with a firearm. The charges arise from the attempted robbery of Checkpoint Charlies, 501 Esplanade Ave., around 6:30 a.m. where the bartender refused to give up any money, and then the robbery of Iggy's bar, 1943 N. Rampart St., where the bartender handed over the loot.

In both cases, the robber was described as 23 to 25 years old, 5'9" tall, weighing 150 pounds, and wearing a gray hoodie. Video surveillance in both bars apparently confirmed that identification.

There is word on the street that Kajun's Pub, 2256 St. Claude Ave., just across Elysian Fields Avenue, was also robbed Wednesday morning, but there is no report from the 5th NOPD District there to confirm it.

It is not known if Wilson is linked to another robbery the next day, on Thursday (11.26.09) around 2:10 p.m., just around the corner from Iggy's in the 1600 block of Pauger Street. A white man walking down the street was accosted by a black dude who pulled out a pistol and demanded his money; the victim complied.

The robber was identified as 20 to 25 years old, 5'8" tall, weighing 170 pounds, medium build and medium complexion, and wearing a dark-colored hoodie and dark pants.

'Tis the season: Every year robbers seem to pop up like malevolent elves using tourists and residents as ATM machines:

• Thursday (11.26.09) 10:14 p.m.: A white couple taking a Thanksgiving evening stroll in Spanish Plaza (Poydras Street at the river) were robbed by 2 black dudes, one of whom pulled a pistol. The male victim gave up his cash and the robbers fled.

One robber was described as 5'10" tall, weighing 160 pounds, with short hair, and wearing a dark-colored hoodie and dark blue jeans; the other was 5'8" tall, weighing 150 pounds, with short hair, and wearing a black Saints sweatshirt and dark jeans.

• Tuesday (11.24.09) 9:50 p.m.: A white woman walking near Dauphine and Frenchmen streets in the Marigny Triangle had her purse grabbed from her shoulder by a black punk riding by on a bicycle.

The robber was described as 15 to 20 years old, weighing 140 pounds, with a thin build and short hair, wearing a brown hoodie. The bicycle was an older model, brown, with a banana seat.

• Monday (11.23.09) 7 a.m.: A white woman walking in a parking garage in the 500 block of Convention Center Boulevard (near Poydras and the Harrah's complex) was approached by a black dude who demanded her purse. She surrendered it and he fled on foot.

The perp was described as 5'10" tall, with a thin build and dark complexion, and wearing a multi-colored sweatshirt.

• Friday (11.20.09) 3:30 a.m.: A white man walking in the 600 block of Royal Street (between Toulouse and St. Peter streets) was slugged by a black guy who took his wallet. As the alleged perp tried to flee the scene he was observed by a passing patrol car.

The officer apprehended Jerry Lewis, 52, and charged him with simple robbery. (Tomorrow's his birthday, but unless you've got $40,000 for his bail, there's no gift that will get him out of OPP.)

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

Thom Kahler