Bringing in the thieves

The 8th District boys in blue should be doing some rejoicing after rounding up a couple of bad asses that have distressed the French Quarter over the past couple of months:

Right under their noses: After one of many cellphone thefts that have plagued the Quarter in recent months, detectives might not have figured they had much hope finding the thieve who stole a guy's phone 1.16.10 in the 600 block of Royal Street.

But last Wednesday (3.3.10) sitting right there in OPP--where he'd been since he was jailed for an armed robbery 3 days after boosting the phone--detectives found Anthony Johnson, 23, and charged him with simple robbery.

Yet that was minor compared to all the charges being levied against him by detectives who matched him to other crimes. To date, he is charged with 4 armed robberies, the simple robbery, and 2 counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.

His rap sheet shows no less than 32 offenses he's been charged with, dating back to 2003 when he was 17 years old. Charges like armed robbery, burglary, resisting an officer, criminal trespass.

He's being held on $881,000 bond now. Maybe this is the time he gets put away for good.

Don't mess with my Mardi Gras: It took some sleuthing, but detectives caught up with Jermom Miller, 19, on Friday (3.5.10) for trying to steal a car from a woman in the Quarter on Mardi Gras night as festivities were winding down.

The woman was sitting in her car in the 300 block of Burgundy Street when an armed black dude came up and demanded the keys to her vehicle and for her to get out of it. A guy walking by who saw what was happening, chased the would-be robber on foot but couldn't catch him.

The victim picked Miller out of a photo line-up. Miller must have had some other misdeeds up his sleeves, because he's charged with a total of 4 armed robberies. He's being held in OPP on $400,000 bond.

Miller has an arrest record going back to when he was 17 in 2007. Among the charges was carjacking, though the DA decided not to prosecute it.

Not too bright: A thug swiped a woman's purse around 12:19 a.m. last Tuesday (3.2.10) as she was walking in the 700 block of St. Philip Street (between Royal and Bourbon streets, near Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop).

It didn't take long for cops to apprehend William Mozingo, 30, and charge him with pursesnatching and simple battery for the rough way in which he must have grabbed the victim and her purse.

He is in OPP on $17,500 bond.

Still on the loose: An Oriental couple were held up last Monday (3.1.10) around 1:25 a.m. in the 1100 block of Convention Center Boulevard, near Gaiennie Street by a black dude who acted like he had a gun.

They gave him their money and he escaped in a waiting car, which was described as a beige, older model 4-door midsized sedan. The robber was described as 18 to 20 years old, 5'7" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a light-colored hoodie and light jeans.

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

Thom Kahler

Phone it in

Your money's no good: Considering most people carry very little cash these days and ATM cards are easy to trace, what robbers want now is your cellphone--specifically your iPhone. With iPhones going for $199 and up, a stolen iPhone is a hot commodity on the street for a fraction of that. Why? Because it's so darn easy to pop in your own SIM card and the phone becomes yours and is untraceable.

Probably a good number of the pursesnatchings are targeting phones too, but note below all the thefts of cellphones from users who were distracted while texting or yakking:

• Wednesday (2.17.10) 10:47 p.m.: A white woman walking in the 900 block of Toulouse Street (between Dauphine and Burgundy streets) was robbed of her purse by a black guy riding by on his bicycle.

The robber, described only as dressed in all black clothing, peddled the wrong way up Burgundy toward Canal Street.

• Saturday (2.20.10) 11:10 p.m.: A white woman walking in the 700 block of Conti Street, next to the Royal Sonesta hotel, had her iPhone snatched from her hand by a black guy as she was busy texting.
  

She described him as 20 to 25 years old, 6'2" to 6'4" tall, with a thin build and very short hair, wearing red short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.

• Saturday (2.20.10) 11:30 p.m.: A white woman and a friend were standing at the top of the staircase at Artillery Park, across from Jackson Square, when a black thug grabbed her purse and almost dragged her down the steps as she fought for her purse.
  

She could only describe him as wearing a brown jacket.

• Sunday (2.21.10) 1:52 a.m.: A gang of black thugs surrounded a white woman walking near Dauphine and St. Louis streets and when one grabbed her purse and she fought to get it back, another struck her and the hoodlums fled on foot.

She described them as 18 to 20 years old, all wearing black clothing.

• Wednesday (2.24.10) 4:35 p.m.: A white woman walking in the 1700 block of Pauger St. (between N. Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue) got into a fight with a black chick. Who knows what that was about, but the black chick ran off with the white chick's wallet.

Bet there's more to it than that. The victim first reported it to 5th District cops, as if it happened the other side of St. Claude. Then she told them she didn't know exactly what time it happened, and that she could not give a detailed description of the black girl.

• Thursday (2.25.10) 5:49 p.m.: Another woman busy yakking on her cellphone had it grabbed by a black guy in the Riverwalk Mall. He fled near Spanish Plaza.

She described him as 5'10" tall, with a thin build, wearing a black hoodie and dark pants.

• Thursday (2.25.10) 9:50 p.m.: The bicycle bandit struck again. This time he grabbed the purse of a white woman walking in the 600 block of Barracks Street (between Chartres and Royal streets).

The victim was unable to give a detailed description of the robber.

• Thursday (2.25.10) 11:12 p.m.: Cops arrested 2 black boys after they allegedly robbed 2 white couples walking near Burgundy and St. Philip streets. Each robber pulled a pistol and demanded the quartet's money. The victims complied and the thugs fled on foot.

One of the robbers is a juvenile, a16-year-old black boy, who's name can't be used. But booked into Central Lockup was Kantrell Thompson, 18, who was charged with 4 counts of armed robbery with a firearm. He is being held on a $300,000 bond.

• Saturday (2.27.10) 11:33 p.m.: Another cellphone addict, a white woman, walking in the 700 block of St. Peter Street (between Royal and Bourbon streets) was relieved off her cursed device by a black guy.

She was not able to give a detailed description of the robber.

• Sunday (2.28.10) 1:16 a.m.: A white man--they're not all women who aren't paying attention--had his cellphone stolen by a black guy who grabbed it from his hand as he walked in the 800 block of Conti Street near Dauphine Street.

He described the robber as in his 20's, 6'2" tall, with a thin build and shoulder-length dreadlocks, wearing a gray hoodie and dark pants.

• Sunday (2.28.10) 1:57 a.m.: A trio of 2 white women and white man were walking in the 1000 block of Ursulines Avenue when they were accosted by 2 black dudes, one of whom pulled a pistol and demanded their money.
  

The robbers were described as young black boys, one 15 to 16 years old, 5'5" tall, weighing 125 pounds, with a medium complexion, wearing baggy blue jeans, the other 17 to 19 years old, 6' tall, weighing 160 pounds, with a medium complexion, wearing a dark T-shirt and blue jeans.

• Sunday (2.28.10) 2:42 a.m.: A Hispanic woman walking near Bourbon and Iberville streets had her cellphone stolen by a black man who grabbed it from her hand.

He was described as thin, wearing a dark hoodie and dark pants.

• Sunday (2.28.10) 8:32 p.m.: A white woman walking near Dumaine and Royal streets had her purse snatched by a black thug.

The victim was unable to give a detailed description of the incident.

Not all robberies--fights too: Good ole Hispanics. Nothing like a knife to cut up someone to make your point in an argument.

Seems Jenry Salinas, 39, got into a dispute with a white buddy last Tuesday (2.23.10) around 6:35 p.m. in the 900 block of St. Ann Street (between Dauphine and Burgundy streets). Police say he took out a knife and carved some on his friend.

They hauled him away and charged him with aggravated battery, simple battery, and aggravated assault. He got out of OPP today (3.2.10) after posting $20,000 bond.

Don't be surprised: Big Chief Warren Riley may fall to the feds in this probe of what went on at the Danziger Bridge in the wake of Katrina.

Remember this is no longer about what happened on the bridge (we may never know for sure)--it's about the cover-up which we know for sure happened after the lieutenant who led it pled guilty last week.

At the time of the incident, Riley was chief of operations, responsible for the day-to-day operation of the NOPD and all the district commanders. He was directly responsible when something of this nature occurred--and yet admits he never read Lt. Michael Lohman's report that's now the substance of the cover-up.

But the link is there. Riley was in the chain of command and named police chief just 3 weeks after the bridge bruhaha. His own report he commissioned and published in 2007 in no way jibes with Lohman's confession of the cover-up. By failing to include Lohman's current tale, he compounded the lie and showed his own "thorough" report to be a sham.

Riley also would have been the one to hand Lohman's bogus report to the powers that be--the U.S. government--the ones who indict you if you lie to them.

Riley's due to leave office exactly 2 months from tomorrow (3.3.10). Whether the feds' axe will fall before then is unknown.

Unknown, too, is when we'll get Riley's promised "thorough" report of what happened to millions of dollars that disappeared from the NOPD's evidence room after Katrina. He's dragging his feet on that too--and we may never know until the feds probe that too.

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

Thom Kahler

They're in the jailhouse now

Jail time: District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro is right--his crew is putting more and more bad guys--and girls--in jail. And passing on fewer and fewer cases. Recently incarcerated:

• Lokea Morgan, 26, was sentenced to 6 months in jail by Judge Lynda Van Davis after pleading guilty to aggravated battery and theft of goods under $300. A shopkeeper in the 1000 block of Common Street last July was attempting to stop her from shoplifting when she swung at him with a box cutter, cutting him on the hand.

• Roberto Jaquez, 22, was sentenced to 6 months in OPP by Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson after pleading guilty to aggravated assault. He pointed a gun at a driver who parking his car near Burgundy and St. Ann streets last July. His girlfriend, Stacey Junker, 21, was also charged with aggravated assault, but the DA nol prossed that charge.

• Darrel Jenkins Jr., 20, was sentenced to 10 years in prison without probation, parole or suspension by Judge Julian Parker after he pled guilty to armed robbery. He robbed a guy sitting in his car on Dumaine Street near Royal Street last September, taking the victim's money and car.

• Keiron Jordan, 28, got only 5 years in prison, a sentence lumped together by Judge Laurie White after he pled guilty to carjacking, 3 counts of hit-and-run driving with serious injury, and aggravated flight from a police officer. He stole a car last May of a driver who left it running in the 600 block of Gravier Street while he and a woman passenger went to use an ATM, leaving 2 other women in the car, whom he order out before he drove off in the vehicle.

• Jermaine Lewis (left), 27, and Cornelius Thompson (right), 29, each were sentenced to a year in jail by Judge Lynda Van Davis after they pled guilty to simple robbery. Last June they rolled 2 white guys who were so drunk they didn't know what bar they were in, except it was near Bourbon and Conti streets. Thompson knocked one guy to the ground and grabbed property from his pocket while Lewis relieved the other guy of his wallet.

• David Bentley, 30, was sentenced to 2 years in jail by Judge Arthur Hunter after pleading guilty to pursesnatching. Last July he grabbed the purse of a woman walking in the 600 block of St. Philip Street.

• Donovan Krieger, 18, is doing 3 years of hard time after being sentenced by Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson for simple robbery which he pled guilty to after charges were reduced from armed robbery and the DA promised not to seek a multiple bill that would have added years to his sentence (since he's only 18, it sounds like he's been in some serious trouble in Jefferson Parish, where he'll serve his sentence). In a case that has been convoluted from the beginning last May, Krieger allegedly pulled a gun on a guy he knew who got into a car with him and buddy, supposedly to buy Saints tickets, and took his money. But the victim knew who dat was who robbed him.

• Archie Love, 29, was sentenced to 2 years in jail by Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson after pleading guilty to pursesnatching. He grabbed a purse from a patron inside Harrah's Casino last August, not counting on the security cameras and officers who guard the place.

• Tymillion Williams, 24, was sentenced to 6 months in jail by Judge Arthur Hunter after pleading guilty to resisting a police officer and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. But he'll hardly notice it: Hunter order the sentence to run concurrent with a 5-year sentence for aggravated burglary and cocaine possession which Williams pled guilty to.

Only 5 years for 4 crimes. Commit one crime, might as well go for more--the penalty's the same. Now get this: his attorney earlier this month asked the judge to reconsider the sentence. Wouldn't want the poor felon to spend too much time behind bars.

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

Thom Kahler

Quirks in the courts

Take it to the max: Eric Lewis, who turned 37 on Sunday, isn't quite doing life without parole, but the 40 years Judge Camille Buras slapped on him earlier this month for robbing a French Quarter bar comes close.

It was the maximum sentence she could impose on Lewis, who has been in trouble with the law since he was 18 (and perhaps before that, if we could peek at his juvenile record).

He was convicted by a jury last October of first-degree robbery of Good Friends bar at Dauphine Street and Orleans Avenue on 1.6.08.

The jury acquitted him of a charge of armed robbery with a firearm for the stick-up of Cosimo's bar at Burgundy and Gov. Nicholls streets 2 weeks earlier on 12.23.07.

On the other hand: Just because the cops say you tried to kill one of their fellow officers doesn't mean you will actually have to do jail time.

Back in early December, Michael Isble, 35, of Florida was stopped by cops around 4 a.m. while 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 and hopped out and tried to flee on foot before cops caught up with him.

Isble was charged with attempted first-degree murder, public intimidation of a police officer, resisting a police officer and flight from an officer, plus 10 traffic violations, including hit-and-run driving, no seat belt, no proof of insurance, among others.

By the time he got to court earlier this month, the charges had been bargained down to only aggravated 2nd-degree battery and resisting a police officer with force. Isble pled guilty to both charges.

Judge Darryl Derbigny sentenced him to 30 months on each charge--and then suspended the sentence. The judge did order 3 years of active probation, anger management counseling, substance abuse testing, and a $1,000 fine.

Isble spent 2 months in OPP awaiting his trial. One assumes he didn't stick around for Mardi Gras festivities. Adios, tourista!

If you want to fight...: Ashley Sensley, 23, who allegedly went after her ex-boyfriend with a gun last August in the 700 block of Bourbon Street was supposed to show up in court last month after pleading not guilty to aggravated assault.

But when that date came, she announced she had been deployed by the Air Force and wouldn't be available until October. Seems Afghanistan or Iraq makes better sense if you want to fight.

Speedy trial? What's that?: Nearly a year ago, 2 black dudes were loitering on a stoop in the 900 block of Bourbon Street when they thought they smelled easy money as a 39-year-old white man walked by around 10:40 p.m. One of the black boys pulled a gun and demanded the man's money. He told them he didn't have any, but offered them some cigarettes instead. The 2 dummies settled for the smokes and fled.

It didn't take officers long to apprehend Devon Mathieu (left), then 19, and Evan Hartzog (right), then 18, and charge them with armed robbery. But it's taken the court nearly a year to deal with these accused miscreants--and the end isn't in sight.

Meanwhile, both hoodlums are running loose after they were bailed out of OPP shortly after the robbery last March. There's obviously no hurry to get back to court if you're out free, so after each pled not guilty in September--6 months after the crime--their case was assigned to Chief Judge Arthur Hunter, then the real delays began.

Their attorneys filed various motions and Hunter set a hearing for November. When the November date came, Hunter reset it for January for some unnamed reason. When the January date came, Hunter announced the court was closed that day (no holiday I know of) and he reset the hearing. What you've got to understand is, with the courts--and most all of the judges--it's not "oops, come back tomorrow." Everything seems measured in 2-month increments and scheduled 60 days down the road.

Now Hartzog and Mathieu are due back in court in April--almost 13 months after they were arrested. Wonder if Judge Hunter will show.

He's in the jailhouse now--again: You almost couldn't blame the guy. After appearing in court something like 9 times after his arrest on drug charges in March last year, Cory C. Mackey just didn't see the point when his case made no progress--so he stopped showing up.

Mackey, 33, was busted by 8th District officers Billy Tregle and Joe Waguespack for allegedly dealing cocaine in the 400 block of Dauphine Street. Mackey, who had a long record as an oft-arrested and sometimes convicted coke dealer, was held in OPP on $85,000 bond--assuring his appearances in court.

But on 7.29.09, Judge Robin Pittman found no probable cause to charge Mackey with peddling cocaine and granted the defense motion to suppress evidence. She set him free on 7.31.09. The DA's office immediately appealed the judge's decision to the 4th District Court.

Mackey showed up in court on 9.3.09 to hear the appeal court had reversed Judge Pittman's order and to hear the DA ask the court for the $85,000 bond be reinstated.

Less than 2 weeks later, Mackey was a no-show at a hearing to determine his bond, and the judge issued an arrest warrant with no bond. Although Mackey appeared in court 3 weeks later for another hearing he wasn't jailed on the warrant. Then he did his disappearing act.

He was on the lam until cops caught up with him last Thursday (2.18.10) and threw him in OPP without bail. There's no indication when he'll next hear a gavel.

This is justice?: Anyone who's lived in New Orleans for any time has probably experience the scourge of car break-ins. When 8th District cops arrested Donnell Robinson (top) and Shelton Conerly (bottom) in the summer of 2008--when they were only 19 and 18--the police probably believed they had made a dent in the plague of such burglaries.

They caught the duo after thefts in the CBD, but following further investigation, they linked them with other burglaries in Treme, Uptown, and Lakeview. Ultimately Robinson was booked on 28 charges and Conerly a few less.

By the time Robinson's case dragged through Judge Ben Willard's court for nearly 18 months, the 28 charges had shrunk to a mere 6. In court last December, the DA dropped 3 more.

Robinson pled guilty to the remaining 3. Judge Willard sentenced Robinson to 3 years in jail--all suspended. He was supposed to get a job and pay $690.50 in court fees; as of Monday (2.22.10) he had paid nothing.

But the story doesn't end there. Remember Conerly? His case is still active in Judge Willard's court, but he's got bigger problems than that.

He's been out on $15,000 bond since 8.28.08 on the burglary charges. But in January this year, Conerly was arrested and booked along with 3 other young thugs on 5 counts of attempted first-degree murder for an incident on the Crescent City Connection when they allegedly chased down a carload of youths leaving a Gretna nightclub and opened fire on the car.

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

Thom Kahler

Not so quiet Mardi Gras

A little mayhem: Despite what the NOPD might have you believe, there were a few incidents that marred Mardi Gras. But considering several hundred thousand people frolicked here on Tuesday, it wasn't much more than your average night on the town:

• Shootings, 7:24 p.m.: 2 black women, one 20, the other 23, walking near Bourbon and Conti streets, where shot in the leg by a single bullet that passed through one woman's calf and hit the other woman's calf. No one saw who the assailant was.

Just before 9 p.m. a citizen found a .357 magnum pistol on Bourbon Street and turned it over to a NOPD officer at the Bourbon Orleans hotel. Police believe it may be the weapon used in the shooting of the 2 women.

• Aggravated assault, 5:44 p.m.: A black woman driving near Common and S. Rampart streets saw a woman passenger in the car next to her pointing a gun at her. Police apprehended Madrid Augustine, 46, and charged her with aggravated assault with a firearm.

Magistrate Anthony Russo set her bond at $2,500, but then released her from Central Lockup on her own recognizance.

• Aggravated battery, 3:01 a.m.: A white guy got into an argument with a friend in the 600 block of Esplanade Avenue (between Royal and Chartres streets). The friend stabbed him and fled the scene.

Detectives believe they have the identity of the assailant and expect to make an arrest soon.

Robbin' in the hood: As usual, there were a few cases where people proceeded to take what wasn't theirs on Mardi Gras Day:

• 9:01 p.m.: A white woman sitting in her car in the 300 block of Burgundy Street (between Bienville and Conti streets) was accosted by an armed black guy who demanded the keys to her car. She complied and got out of the car, but a bypasser intervened and chased the would-be carjacker down Burgundy.

The perp was described as in his early 20's, about 5'9" tall, with a thin build and dark complexion, wearing a gray hoodie and an orange beanie hat.

• 11:12 p.m.: A white guy walking near Girod and Baronne streets in the CBD was accosted by 2 black dudes who grabbed him and demanded money. He complied and they fled on foot.

The robbers were described as both in their mid-20's, one 5'10" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a yellow hoodie and dark jeans, and the other 6' tall, weighing 200 pounds, wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans.

• 4:29 p.m.: A few hours earlier, a black woman walking near the Superdome at Girod and LaSalle streets was robbed by 2 black thugs who struck her and then grabbed her purse.

They were both described as in their early 20's with thin builds.

Going to the john: For some reason, The John bar, 2040 Burgundy St. (at Frenchmen Street), has become a popular robbery target. An armed black robber went in there at 6:58 a.m. on Valentine's Day (Sunday, 2.14.10) and demanded money. The bartender complied and the perp fled on foot.

The police report didn't indicate whether the amount taken included money from the video poker machines, or whether the video surveillance cameras caught a glimpse of the robber.

He is described as in his mid-20's, 5'8" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a black hoodie, red baseball cap and white tennis shoes.

Busy robber bottled up: One guy we know it wasn't in that robber is Arthur Dillon, who had been a one-man crime wave earlier this month. The law finally caught up with Dillon, 22, last Thursday (2.11.10) and threw him in the slammer on 14--count'em: 14--counts of armed robbery.

We haven't had any luck on getting details from the 8th District, but we do know he was a suspect in these 3 robberies in the 8th:

• Saturday (1.30.10) 8 p.m.: 5 white women robbed while getting into their car at N. Rampart and Pauger streets in the Marigny Triangle.

• Thursday (2.4.10) 11:29 p.m.: A white couple getting into their car near the Convention Center were robbed.

• Friday (2.5.10) 2:15 p.m.: A white woman real estate agent was robbed in broad daylight of her purse containing cash, credit cards, and check book, plus her cellphone in the 1500 block of Pauger Street (between Dauphine and Burgundy streets).

(The police originally reported this robbery as occurring at 11:59 p.m.--the exact time as the one the night before, which looked highly dubious. But the victim contacted us to correct the errors and omissions. It was 2:15 p.m. in the afternoon, and she did give a description of the robber and the fact he drove a getaway car like in the other robberies. Sloppy police work, boys.)

Dillon is sitting in OPP on $800,000 bond, awaiting his first court date on 4.12.10.

Chief material too?: After we mentioned several possible candidates to replace Big Chief Warren Riley as police chief 5.3.10 when Mitch Landrieu is sworn in as the new mayor, a number of readers threw other names into the ring:

• Danny Lawless, a former deputy chief under Chief Eddie Compass and briefly chief of operations. Riley, apparently threatened by Lawless' competence, forced him off the force. Lawless is now chief of Tulane University's police force.
  

• Capt. Timmy Bayard, a former commander of the massive 7th District, and one of the few commanders to step up, along with Capt. Jeff Winn, to assume command in the vacuum after Katrina. Riley has buried him somewhere in the bowels of the department as another perceived threat to Riley's ineptitude.

• Capt. Harry Mendoza, who was reputed to be Landrieu's choice for chief back in 2006, which led Riley to fire him--and then forced to rehire him by court order. He's now head of the one-man arson bureau, but is reportedly not interested in the chief's position.

• Maj. Robert Norton, current commander of the 1st District, which adjoins the French Quarter, was mentioned by one reader who gives him high marks for targeting pockets of crime in his district.

"He did this," said the reader, "by creatively marshaling resources beyond his First District personnel, i.e. by calling in task forces, traffic, all manner of squads that are available on an as-needed basis to the various precincts. I love the fact that he didn't let the dearth of resources allotted his district, specifically, stop him from finding a way to tackle our problems. He's done a great job of reducing crime here and he is also great about staying in touch with residents and responding to their concerns."

Or if you want to get radical, consider these names:

• Lt. Gen. Russel Honore: He's the "John Wayne dude" Mayor Nagin hailed in the aftermath of Katrina. He's someone who could give a real kick in the ass to the NOPD. If you recall, he's the one told his troops, "You're looking at your calendar--I'm looking at my watch!"

• Jim Bernazzani: He was the FBI's special agent in charge of the New Orleans office and was tough as nails when it came to fighting crime and corruption here.
  

Anyone else you'd nominate?

(For more insight into the picking of a police chief, see WWL's Sunday Edition.)

Anywhere else...: As someone had to remind me on Mardi Gras: "Anywhere else, it's just Tuesday." How sad for them.

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

Thom Kahler

Who will be the new chief?

This is an update, and a bit of a rewrite, of a NOcrimeline column that was first published 11.18.08

Who will be the new police chief?: Since Big Chief Warren Riley has promised to quit his post when Mayor Nagin leaves office 5.3.10, Mitch Landrieu's biggest job will be picking a new police chief who can get the job done.

(Riley reportedly told a group the other day that Landrieu keeping him on would be like President Obama having kept Dick Chaney on.)

Nagin put little effort in choosing his boyhood pal, Eddie Compass, as police chief when he took office without any apparent outside input; then he thrust Riley into the post when Compass had his meltdown during Katrina, again without any real search for the best person. Landrieu, on the other hand, is handing the task to a transition team and expects to have a new police chief in place when he takes office 5.3.10.

(It's rumored that former NOPD chief Richard Pennington, who just retired as Atlanta's police chief, will be on that taskforce. Others who maybe should be: former special agent in charge of the FBI here, Jim Bernazzani, and the city's first inspector general Bob Cerasoli.)

So who will Landrieu consider? Who will get the nod? Some automatically say "bring in someone from the outside," as Pennington was in 1994 from Washington, D.C. when the NOPD was rife with corruption. However, today corruption in the department is not so much a problem (except for a few officers who can't keep it in their pants) as officer morale is.

A new chief has to first resuscitate morale among the rank-and-file to transform the NOPD into the crime-fighting force the city deserves. Appointing a chief from within the department--or someone with past links to it--would go a long way toward convincing current officers that the NOPD is not a dead-end career.

Many say the best choice from INSIDE the department is Capt. Jeff Winn. A highly-decorated 23-year veteran of the NOPD and a hero of Katrina who supplied leadership when there was none. His drawback is he's young, but he's experienced (former SWAT team commander, former 1st District commander, currently commander of the criminal intelligence division) and no commanders on the NOPD merit more respect from the rank and file.

However, a current federal investigation of excessive use of force after Katrina by the NOPD is believed to have Winn, among others, in its sights; rumors speculate that an indictment is imminent. Those with allegiance to Winn say it's unfair to target someone who was willing to step up in the midst of such a historic calamity when others weren't.

Best choice from OUTSIDE the department? Ronal Serpas. Serpas was plucked from the ranks of the NOPD and made the first chief of operations when Pennington drastically reorganized the department in the mid-90s. When he took over as boss of the district commanders, crime dropped drastically in the city.

A 27-year veteran of law enforcement with a doctorate from LSU, he went on to become chief of the Washington State Police in 2001 and then Police Chief of Nashville, Tennessee, in 2004, which has a police force similar in size to New Orleans' for a city/county much larger. In both jobs, he managed to reduce crime significantly; Nashville has experienced a drop in crime every year he's been chief there.

Another--more or less--outsider is Louis Dabdoub who was a rising star in the NOPD until he clashed with Chief Compass.

When I first met Capt. Dabdoub after he was named commander of the 8th District in 2002, I remember coming home and telling my wife that I had just met the guy who was going to be the city's police chief someday. I still think he should be given serious consideration for the job.

He was a gritty street cop who amazed those under him when he would jump in and make a collar when necessary. I once remember him being late to a Lower Quarter Crime Watch meeting--he had stopped to arrest a miscreant near Jackson Square he encountered on the way.

Because he always made time to listen to any citizen's complaint, Capt. Dabdoub was largely loved by the residents of the French Quarter, if not universally by gutter punks and unscrupulous merchants. It was during a sweep of businesses in the Quarter which lacked proper licensing that he ran afoul of the powers that be; it was said some of those busted had close ties to Mayor Nagin.

Dabdoub was banished unceremoniously from the 8th District to the 4th District (Algiers), an obvious demotion. Not long after he resigned from the NOPD and went to work for the Federal Protective Service, charged with protecting federal buildings and personnel, as part of Homeland Security. He's now manager of corporate security for Entergy.

If Dabdoub could be induced to come back to the NOPD as chief, he could be just the one to give the department the ass-kicking it needs.

Don't count out Assistant Chief Marlon Defillo, currently the No. 2 man in the department. As a 27-year veteran of the NOPD, Defillo's not a bad choice. I worked with him on Nagin's public safety transition team in 2002; he's intelligent and articulate, listens to others and is persuasive in stating his position.

But the rap on him is that he lacks street-level command experience over a division, other than leading the Public Integrity Bureau and the Public Information Office.

(For more insight into the picking of a police chief, see WWL's Sunday Edition.)

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

Thom Kahler

One-man crime wave

Look out!: 8th District detectives have sworn out 3 arrest warrants for Arthur Dillon, 22, who is believed to be responsible for 3 armed robberies in the past week.

He is described as a black dude in his early 20's, 5'7" to 6' tall, with a medium build, in one case wearing a black coat with a hood and in another a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Dillon's suspected sins so far:

• Saturday (1.30.10) 8:00 p.m.: 5 white women were getting into their car at N. Rampart and Pauger streets in the Marigny Triangle when an armed black guy came up and demanded their money. They complied and he hopped into a waiting vehicle which fled on Pauger toward St. Claude Avenue.

• Thursday (2.4.10) 11:29 p.m.: A white couple were getting into their car at S. Diamond and Fulton streets (across from the Convention Center) when they were robbed by an armed black guy who fled with their cash into the getaway car which headed down Convention Center Boulevard to Andrew Higgins Drive.

• Friday (2.5.10) 11:29 p.m.: Back in his old 'hood the very next night at the exact time as the night before (what? his mama got him on a midnight curfew?) an armed gunman accosted a white woman in the 1500 block of Pauger Street (between Burgundy and Dauphine streets in the Triangle, a block from the robbery the Saturday before) and made off with her money. The victim didn't say whether he fled in a vehicle, but she did positively identify Dillon from a photo line-up shown to her by detectives.
  

Robberies by others: Other robberies marred the past week:

• Tuesday (2.2.10) 4:30 a.m.: A white guy was robbed at Gravier and Camp streets when a black derelict asked him for a dollar. When the victim took his wallet out of his pocket (carry loose change, buddy) the robber grabbed it and ran.

The thief was described as 40 to 45 years old, 5'9" tall, weighing 150 pounds, wearing a red and black sweatshirt and jeans.

• Monday (2.8.10) 1:30 a.m.: It was white-on-white crime when a white guy grabbed a white woman's purse while she was walking in the 600 block of Dauphine Street (between Toulouse and St. Peter streets).

The crook was 5'8" tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a black cap, Saints' jersey (who wasn't wearing one last week--but what number?), and blue jeans.

Bang-up time: What's a celebration without a shooting? Young thugs in and around the French Quarter had to knock off a few rounds to have a good time:

• Friday (2.5.10) 8:30 p.m.: A 15-year-old black boy got into an argument with 2 other black punks in the 100 block of University Place, just off Canal Street where the Krewe of Oshun's parade had rolled minutes before. One, a 16-year-old, pulled out a small-caliber pistol and blasted the younger boy in the leg. He was treated and released from the hospital.

The shooter and his weapon were seized, but because the young thug is a juvenile the police won't release his name (wouldn't want the cold, heartless punk traumatized). So we won't know when this creep is out walking the streets again--and armed again.

• Monday (2.8.10) 12:03 a.m.: 3 adults--a white man, 25, and 2 black women, one 30 and the other 36--were standing near Iberville and Bourbon streets when they heard shots fired and then realized they had been wounded in their legs. They did not see the shooter and they were released after being treated for minor wounds.

• Monday (2.8.10) 1:34 a.m.: A Hispanic man walking near Bourbon and Conti streets felt a pain in his chest, and noticed a puncture wound to his chest. He told police he was unsure how he had been cut.

What's with all these folks--kids and adults alike--walking around armed with guns while so many human targets are in close proximity? I have no quarrel with properly licensed gun owners who want to protect themselves. But kids and felons seem to be more heavily armed than law-abiding citizens.

Maybe kids just don't have respect for the law; they see their "heroes" like rapper Lil Wayne weasel their way out of punishment for violating gun laws.

Yesterday Lil Wayne, who a day earlier was bragging about how he welcomed going to jail, told a NY judge he forgot he had a dentist's appointment in Miami; he obviously preferred a root canal (or maybe more gold implants) if it would stall his sentencing to a year in jail by a month.

The felons aren't smart enough to stay away from guns when they get out of jail. If they were smart, they wouldn't be felons in the first place.

Want to put an end to this? If a kid is caught with a gun, try him as an adult and don't let him hide behind being 16, or 15, or 14, or... Let him do some real time. And make the parents pay too--in fines or jail time.

As for felons, turn them over to the feds for prosecution that is far more severe than what the local courts mete out.

Put pressure on the cops to try to catch kids and felons with weapons. If a kid looks like he's young enough to be breaking curfew, stop him and see--and see if he's armed. If a felon so much as spits on the sidewalk, stop him and see if he's armed and carrying.

Let's get these scumbags off the street so honest citizens don't have to arm themselves to be safe in crowds.

Coming back to work, Leon?: Now that DA Leon Cannizzaro's attempt at being a kingmaker has turned out to be a dismal failure, perhaps he can get back to the job we elected him to do: Get the bad guys off the streets.

His office is dragging out the prosecution of 2 juveniles accused of murdering Wendy Byrnes over a year ago, most recently asking the court for a delay that postpones any action until 3.9.10. On top of that, his office still refuses to say if it's going to charge the third suspect--a 14-year-old--as an adult.

Job One: Police chief?: Many are hailing the landslide election of Mitch Landrieu as mayor as an opportunity for him to use the time between now and inauguration 5.3.10 to search and find a new police chief by then. Having a new chief to make the streets of New Orleans safe again can't come too soon. The sooner Landrieu begins looking, the sooner we can enthusiastically celebrate his election.

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

Thom Kahler