Phone it in

Yakitty-yak: It's tempting to say they got what they had coming to them, but no one deserves to be robbed--even if they are yakking on their cellphone rather than paying attention to the world around them.

After a string of at least 4 cellphone thefts last weekend, 8th District cops finally managed to apprehend a young black boy on Monday who appears to be linked to all the robberies.

But because the little scofflaw is a juvenile under 16 years old, we'll never know what happens to him for these crimes. We'll have to wait until he turns professional when he turns 17 and continues his life of crime.

Here's his latest string of offenses:

• Friday (4.23.10) 1:09 a.m.: A white woman walking near Esplanade Avenue and Decatur street had her cellphone grabbed from her hand by a black boy. He took off on foot on Esplanade toward Elysian Fields Avenue.

He was described as 5'11" tall, weighing 145 pounds, with pulled back braided hair, and wearing all dark-colored clothing.

• Friday (4.23.10) 3:00 a.m.: Less than 2 hours later, another white woman walking in the 600 block of Frenchmen Street--in the heart of the music scene--had her cellphone snatched from her hand. The black boy who did it fled on foot up Frenchmen toward Esplanade.

He was described at 5'11" tall, weighing 150 pounds.

• Saturday (4.24.10) 11:05 p.m.: The next night, he went into the CBD and grabbed a cellphone from a black woman in the 200 block of Baronne Street (a block the other side of Canal Street between Common and Gravier streets) before fleeing on Barrone to Union Street to Carondelet Street.

He was described as 5'11" tall, with a thin build, in his early 20's, with shoulder-length dreadlocks.

• Monday (4.26.10) 2:42 a.m.: After taking Sunday off for good behavior (I doubt it) the young hooligan resumed his reign of terror, which turned out to be his undoing. He yanked the cellphone from the hand of a white man standing in the 100 block of Bourbon Street near Canal Street and took off running on Canal to Dauphine Street, turning toward Esplanade.

This is when the cops caught up with him and threw him in the slammer.

Now, how about rounding up the boy's mama and putting the shackles on her too? She's the one who let her baby boy run wild on the streets--and what did she think when all those cellphones began showing up in her house?

The other question is: In all this time, didn't a single cop notice a black boy who was clearly young enough to be violating curfew running around right under their noses? Put down your cellphones, guys, and pay attention.

But it never ends: You'd think after arresting that black boy early Monday morning for a string of crimes you'd get a breather. Not so.

• Monday (4.26.10) 11:15 p.m.: That night a white woman walking in the 500 block of Decatur Street (between St. Louis and Toulouse streets) had her purse (with a phone in it?) snatched by a black boy. He fled on foot down Toulouse toward N. Rampart Street.

She described him as 5'9" tall, weighing 165 pounds, and wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants.

Another arrest: Earlier in the week, cops arrested another black dude for a pursesnatching on Wednesday (4.21.10). A white woman was walking in the CBD on Common Street near Carondelet when a black guy, accompanied by his girlfriend, grabbed her purse from her shoulder and fled in separate directions.

Police apprehended Terrell Pierce, 19, and Iesha Mark, 22. Pierce was charged with pursesnatching. Mark was initially booked as being a principal to pursesnatching, but those charges were apparently dismissed since she doesn't appear in any court records.

Pierce was free at the time of this crime on a $3,500 bond set by Judge Robin Pittman after he was charged with burglary of an inhabited dwelling. He is now being held in OPP on a $25,000 bond for the pursesnatching charge.

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

Thom Kahler

Chief Serpas?

You heard it here first: If everything goes as it should, Mitch Landrieu will name Ronal Serpas as chief of the NOPD before he's sworn in as New Orleans mayor on Monday.

You might recall that NOcrimeline named Serpas as a possible candidate for police chief 18 months ago. In that same article, we also mentioned former Capt. Louis Dabdoub as a very real possibility, along with Assistant Chief Marlon Defillo and Capt. Jeff Winn.

• Serpas led the list of 3 finalists announced by the mayor-elect's search committee this afternoon. Landrieu will now interview them and make his choice.

Also on that list are John Harrington, police chief of St. Paul, MN and Ronald Davis, police chief of East Palo Alto, CA.

• Dabdoub was on the short list of 6 candidates announced Monday afternoon, along with Bruce Preston Marquis, police chief of Norfolk, VA and John R. Batiste, chief of the Washington State Patrol.

Those 3 were eliminated today after the search committee interviewed them face to face yesterday.

• Defillo had a phone interview with the search committee but was not invited to the second round of in-person interviews.

Defillo probably merited more consideration but was perhaps too tainted by Chief Warren Riley's reputation. A place has to be found in the department for a cop of Defillo's competence and integrity.

• Winn has since come under investigation of his role in some post-Katrina shootings involving NOPD officers which has put a cloud over his career.
  

Why Serpas and not Dabdoub or one of the other candidates?

1) Landrieu in a TV interview Monday night made the obvious clear: to be successful in New Orleans you have to understand and appreciate the peculiar culture here. Both Serpas and Dabdoub fill that bill; can you imagine one of the other candidates coming around the corner and being face to face with a Mardi Gras Indian for the first time?

2) Landrieu previously said he wanted a police chief that has a proven track record as a chief in another city. Serpas has been police chief of Nashville, TN since 2004. The crime rate there has dropped each year since, and last year was the lowest in that city since 1978.

Dabdoub is the only candidate on the short list that has not been a police chief, which shouldn't, but might, if Landrieu sticks to his criterion, work against a much-admired police commander.

• Serpas made his passion for the city very emphatic in announcing he was seeking the chief's job in New Orleans. He noted he had previously denied interest in the job a couple of months ago, but then stated in a release Monday: "However, in the 2 months that have followed, I have been encouraged by many lifelong friends in New Orleans to consider this opportunity. New Orleans was my home for 41 years, and the home of my family since the 1800s. All 3 of my children were born there. I worked in the New Orleans police department for 21 years, from 1980 until 2001...New Orleans has a special history for me and my family..." That is what Landrieu was talking about.

Serpas was plucked from the ranks and made the first chief of operations--the number 2 post in the NOPD--when the department was drastically reorganized under Chief Richard Pennington in the mid-90s. When he took over as boss of the district commanders, crime dropped drastically in the city.

A high school dropout, he resumed his education and earned a doctorate from the University of New Orleans in urban studies. He left New Orleans in 2001 to become chief of the Washington State Police and then chief in Nashville, which has a police force similar in size to New Orleans' for a city/county much larger.

Serpas and current 8th District commander, Maj. Edwin Hosli, are long-time best friends. They were best man at each other's wedding and continue to stay in close contact. If Serpas becomes chief, you could expect to see a significant promotion for Hosli, say as deputy chief in charge of the Public Integrity Bureau, a good fit for a straight shooter like Hosli.

• Dabdoub is no slouch either. As a captain he was commander of the 2nd District (Uptown) under Serpas who was chief of operations.
  

When I first met Capt. Dabdoub after he was named commander of the 8th District (French Quarter) in 2002, I remember going home and saying, "I just met the guy who is going to be the city's police chief someday."

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 who 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 exiled unceremoniously from the 8th District to the 4th District (Algiers), an obvious demotion. Not long after he resigned from the NOPD, he went to work for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; he is now head of corporate security for Entergy.

An ideal resolution might be Serpas as chief and Dabdoub as assistant chief in charge of operations, the No. 2 man as the day-to-day boss of the district commanders.

• Harrington is retiring in June from the St. Paul Police Department after a 33-year career there, the last 6 years as chief, a position for which he did not seek reappointment.

Why is some one concluding his career seeking the top job in New Orleans? Is he competent to manage a department the size of the NOPD, which has 1,600+ officers compared to the 610 he supervised in St. Paul?

• Davis appears to be a career job-seeker who can't wait to get the hell out of the San Francisco Bay area. On Monday, the same day he was named to the short list here and was enroute to New Orleans to be interviewed, he was also named to the short list in Seattle, WA. and is due there for an interview May 8.
  

Is he really fit to manage the NOPD's 1,600+ cops when he commanded only 39 in East Palo Alto? Will he be on he plane to somewhere else when he finds he can't?

Landrieu's choice should be obvious, considering Serpas' competence and experience. If he makes any other choice, it will be a major gaff in his stint as mayor. He has the opportunity to deliver to the people of New Orleans the best police chief imaginable.

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

Thom Kahler

Hardly news

It's terrible to get so jaded that another robbery elicits only a ho-hum. The good news is that there have been only 9 of them reported in the last 2 weeks, only 4 of them armed. (Remember when there was at least one a day, and seemed more like 2 or 3?) The bad news is that there was only one arrest for robbery in the past 2 weeks--so the bad guys are still out there lurking. You have to keep your guard up.

The armed robberies:

• Tuesday (4.20.10) 12:37 a.m.: A white guy walking in the 1000 block of Touro Street (between N. Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue) escaped being robbed when he took off running after being accosted by a black thug brandishing a brick, demanding his money. The victim refused and the would-be robber swung the brick but missed the victim.

The poorly-armed robber was described as 18 to 23 years old, 5'9" to 5'11" tall, weighing 160 to 170 pounds, with a medium to dark complexion, wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and dark shorts.

• Sunday (4.11.10) 1:10 a.m.: 2 couples (2 men, 2 women) were walking in the 1000 block of Ursulines Avenue (between Burgundy and N. Rampart streets) were robbed by 2 black dudes armed with pistols.

Both robbers were described as in their early 20's, 5'10" tall, with slim builds and dark complexions, wearing all dark-colored clothing; one had corn rows and the other long hair.

• Wednesday (4.7.10) 3:10 a.m.: A couple walking in the 900 block of Royal Street (between Dumaine and St. Philip streets) was robbed by a black thug with a pistol.

He was described as 25 to 30 years old, 5'11" tall, weighing 190 pounds, with a dark complexion, wearing a light gray hoodie and blue jeans.

• Tuesday (4.6.10) 11:40 p.m.: A white guy walking in the 1000 block of St. Philip Street (between Burgundy and N. Rampart streets) was robbed of his wallet and cellphone by a black guy wielding a pistol.

The robber was described as 20 to 29 years old, 5'9" to 5'10" tall, weighing 160 to 165 pounds, with a dark complexion, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and dark-colored shorts.

Simple robberies and pursesnatchings:

• Friday (4.16.10) 9:04 p.m.: It's not known yet if this is the notorious bike bandit who's been swooping past women and snatching their purses for the last month or so, but 8th District cops arrested Craig Hayes, 19, after a white woman was robbed in the 900 block of Royal Street (between Dumaine and St. Philip streets) by a black guy on a bicycle who grabbed her purse from her shoulder and fled to St. Ann Street and turned toward Bourbon Street.

• Thursday (4.15.10) 11:30 a.m.: A white man walking in the 600 block of Loyola Avenue (near Girod Street) was robbed in broad daylight by a black punk who grabbed the wallet from his hand and then fled on foot toward Howard Avenue.

The perp was described as 16 to 18 years old, 5'9" to 5'11" tall, weighing 160 to 170 pounds, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

• Wednesday (4.14.10) 10:58 p.m.: A white woman walking in the 1400 block of Bourbon Street (just across Esplanade Avenue in the Marigny Triangle) had her purse snatched from her by a black creep who fled in a white Ford Explorer toward Elysian Fields Avenue.

It happened so quickly she could only describe him as wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

• Monday (4.12.10) 3:24 a.m.: A white woman walking in the 300 block of Carondelet Street in the CBD (for crying out loud: take a cab into that neighborhood at that hour!) was robbed of her cellphone (wanna bet she was yakking on it and didn't even notice her assailants approaching?) by 2 black dudes who fled on foot.

She described both of them as 20 to 28 years old, one 6' tall with a thin build, dark complexion, long dreadlocks, wearing a black T-shirt; the other had a medium build, dark complexion, short hair, and also wearing a black T-shirt.

• Saturday (4.10.10) 1:55 a.m.: A white woman walking near Bourbon and St. Louis streets had her cellphone grabbed out of her hand (again: yackitty-yack) by a black thug who fled on food on St. Louis, turning on Dauphine Street toward Conti Street.

He was described as 18 to 20 years old, 6'3" tall, with a slim build and short hair, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Watch your purses: You don't have to be out on the streets to have your purse stolen. It happened to 2 women last Friday (4.16.10) night at Snug Harbor on Frenchmen Street.

They were dining there and hung their purses on their chairs. When the performance in the other room ended, the large audience exited through the dining room. During the exit they felt their chairs being bumped into several times. Once the throng had dissipated they realized their purses were missing.

A NOcrimeline reader who notified us of the incident wondered why the police took so an hour or so to respond. It turns out the women first notified the club's management who searched the entire club for the purses. When they weren't found, the police were contacted.

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

Thom Kahler

Hot time in the old town

Enough violence to go around: Doesn't matter your socio-economic status, you had a good chance of being a victim in the French Quarter this weekend. Everyone's probably heard by now of the Saturday (4.10.10) night rampage outside McDonald's on Canal Street, where 8 were gunned down by the usual suspects. But shrouded in greater mystery is the vicious attack Friday (4.9.10) on 2 GOP devotees after they left a fundraiser for the Louisiana Republican Party at Brennan's.

Injured in that melee were Gov. Bobby Jindal's chief fundraiser, Alexandra "Allee" Bautsch and her boyfriend, Joe Brown. Bautsch had her leg broken and Brown suffered a concussion to accompany a fractured nose and jaw. Though the incident happened Friday night, there was no news of it until a flak for Jindal issued a press release late Monday. NOcrimeline finally pried a report out of the 8th District this afternoon that supplied some details.

According to that report, the duo was attacked around 10:45 p.m., about an hour after the fundraiser ended, on St. Louis Street in front of the Omni Royal Orleans hotel by a gang of 3 to 5 white guys who allegedly followed the couple around the corner from Brennan's restaurant in the 400 block of Royal Street.

"A verbal altercation began between the male victim and the suspects, which turned physical. The female victim attempted to break up the altercation and in the process, broke her leg," the report stated.

Only one of the assailants was described in any detail: he was said to be in his late 20’s, 6’01” tall, with a thin build, beard, ponytail, and dark brown or dark red hair, wearing a light-colored T-shirt and dark pants.

Some GOP partisans, who attended the $10,000-a-plate fundraiser in conjunction with the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, speculated the couple were pursued by Democratic protesters who noted they were wearing Sarah Palin pins. A friend who visited Bautsch in the hospital Saturday morning said Bautsch told her that although the demonstration at Brennan's had pretty much broken up an hour after the event, she and her boyfriend were followed by the gang and heard one of them say, “Let’s get them, they have Palin pins on!” (A Jindal spokesman denied they were wearing emblems of a likely candidate who will probably compete with Jindal in 2012.)

The Republicans were targets of 200 to 250 protesters who marched on the Hilton Riverside hotel on Friday in opposition to Jindal's proposed budget cuts in education and health care. Demonstrations of this sort are usually handled by the NOPD's Intelligence Unit, though it falls to the 8th District to try to find the couple's assailants. Sources tell NOcrimeline that there is no indication at this time that the assailants were protesters. Crime cameras in the area are being checked.

And the rest of the mayhem: The next night, a dude with a grudge apparently left over from a dispute on Mardi Gras at the same McDonald's on Canal near Royal Street fired a gun into a crowd around 9:15 p.m. and hit his target, a 17-year-old black boy.

The 17-year-old was wounded in the torso and was taken to the hospital where he was treated overnight. Also wounded by the spray of bullets:

• 15-year-old girl, shot in the leg,
• 15-year-old boy, shot in the leg,
  
• 20-year-old man, shot in the leg,
• two 21-year-old men, shot in the leg,
• 25-year-old man, shot in the foot,
• 50-year-old woman, shot in the shoulder.

8th District detectives found a handgun at the scene are trying to determine if it's the weapon used in the shooting. Shell casings littered the area in such profuse numbers that crime lab techs resorted to using empty Hand Grenades (right) from Tropical Isle on Bourbon Street. They are looking for 2 suspects, one of whom handed the pistol to the shooter outside the restaurant before he ripped off a fusillade into the crowd.

One suspect was described as a black boy, 5'6" tall, wearing dark-colored clothing and a baseball cap. The second was also black, with long dreadlocks.

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

Thom Kahler

Not a Good Friday

Stick-ups: Crime took no break over the Good Friday holiday, as these armed robberies indicate:

• Friday (4.2.10) 1:00 a.m.: 2 white women walking in the 500 block of Conti Street (between Decatur and Chartres streets) were held up by a little punk who claimed to be armed. He took only one of the victims' purses and took off running toward Chartres.

He was described as Hispanic or a light-complexioned black guy, 5'7" tall, medium build, wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans.

• Friday (4.2.10) 10:30 p.m.: A Hispanic man walking in the 1000 block of Canal Street (between N. Rampart and Burgundy streets) was set upon by a gang of 4 black thugs, one of whom pulled a knife and demanded his cellphone. The victim was apparently unfazed by the incident since he didn't report it to police until the next day.

Maybe that allowed him to figure out what the perps looked like: one 5'10" tall, weighing 170 pounds, with dreadlocks, wearing a dark-colored hoodie and dark blue jeans; the second 6'2" tall, weighing 200 to 220 pounds, with corn rows and gold teen, wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a white T-shirt underneath and blue jeans; the third 5'10" tall, with corn rows, wearing a brown hoodie and blue jeans; and the fourth 6' tall, weighing 200 to 210 pounds, wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a white T-shirt underneath and blue jeans.

Grab and go: Then there was the unarmed--but just as vicious--thieves who struck on Good Friday, as well as Palm Sunday:

• Friday (4.2.10) 3:30 a.m.: A white woman walking in the 900 block of Canal Street (between Burgundy and Dauphine streets) fell victim to a robber who sounds an awfully lot like the one who robbed the 2 women a couple of hours earlier (see above), only this time he didn't imply he had a gun. He grabbed the woman's purse and fled in a red pickup truck parked on Dauphine near Canal, turning down Burgundy toward Esplanade Avenue.

He was described as Hispanic, 5'7" tall, weighing 140 pounds, wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt and blue jeans.

• Friday (4.2.10) 11:30 p.m.: A white guy walking in the 600 block of Bourbon Street (between Toulouse and St. Peter streets) was accosted by 4 black boys--the same gang that struck on Canal Street an hour earlier?--who grabbed the victim's money from his hand and fled on foot.

But this time, the cops caught up with 3 of the 4 thugs; the 4th perp remains at large. Arrested were:

• Dantrel Brown (top), 18, charged with simple robbery and illegal possession of stolen things under $300. He is being held in OPP in lieu of $30,000 bond.

• Jamal J. Johnson (middle), 17, charged with simple robbery. The magistrate found there was no probable cause to charge him with illegal possession of stolen things under $300, and dismissed that charge. He is being held on $25,000 bond.

• Alton Warren (bottom), 18, who has a criminal record going back to when he turned adult at 17, was charged only with simple robbery. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.

• Sunday (3.28.10) 4:25 a.m.: A white woman walking in the 900 block of Canal Street (between Burgundy and Dauphine streets) had her purse snatched by a black thug who fled on foot down Dauphine toward Esplanade Avenue.

She described him as 6" to 6'4" tall, with a medium build and dreadlocks, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

• Friday (3.26.10) 3:30 a.m.: A white guy who didn't know where he was on Bourbon Street (that happens a lot--particularly at this hour after a night of imbibing) was struck by a black dude who grabbed his wallet and fled.

The assailant was described as 6"2" tall, weighing 200 pounds, wearing dark-colored clothing.

What was this about?: A white guy sitting in his house in the 600 block of N. Rampart Street (between Toulouse and St. Peter streets) saw a woman wandering in his abode. She exited and he followed her outside. He asked her what she had been doing in his house and she struck him several times. He grabbed her and held her until the police showed up.

The cops charged Sheryl Lonergan, 33, with aggravated burglary. She is being held in OPP in lieu of $50,000 bond.

No fatal, no foul?: This is a little mysterious. Just after midnight on Monday (4.5.10), 2 black boys--yes, boys, who were violating curfew--realized they had been wounded after hearing gunshots at Magazine and St. Joseph streets in the CBD. The police report doesn't say where the boys, one 16 and the other 17, were shot or how many times. Friends drove them to the LSU Trauma Center, where they were treated.

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

Thom Kahler