Mayhem before Mardi Gras (2011): Paraders pummeled by cops

Parade runs amok: You've probably heard by now of the melee that ensued after the Krewe of Eris staged a rogue parade Sunday (3.6.11) night. The exact route is not clear, what really happened is foggy, and the police and paraders don't even agree on where the police arrested 12 paraders.

Some say the parade began in the Faubourg Marigny, across Elysian Fields Avenue in the NOPD's 5th District, and migrated into the French Quarter; its route is not clear.

In the Quarter, 8th District cops tried to escort the 200 or so--maybe as many as 400--marchers and musicians back across Elysian Fields and make it the 5th's problem. The parade was tailed up Bourbon Street by at least 6 of the 8th District's patrol cars. At Esplanade Avenue, the patrol cars fanned out to direct the parade toward the 5th.

The parade did cross Elysian Fields around 10 p.m. and was intercepted by the 5th District's taskforce which told the paraders they would have to disband "as a result of the group's riotous behavior" and because they did not have a parade permit, the police report said.

The report did not say what constituted "riotous behavior" (though one marcher was seen scrawling graffiti on at least one parking sign in the Quarter).

"As a result of the police disbanding the group, the large crowd of people began to physically confront the officers by cutting the tires on 2 marked police vehicles, aggressively throwing glass bottles and bricks at the officers, resulting in 12 suspects being arrested" after 6 officers were injured and had to be taken to the hospital, the report stated.

That sounds like the "riotous behavior" came after the police ordered the marchers to disband.

This all happened at Chartres Street and Elysian Fields, the police report seems to indicate, but those arrested say it happened about 4 blocks further into the Marigny where Chartres converges with St. Roch and Franklin avenues.

You'd think the police would be accurate on where it occurred, but it seems to be another questionable fact in the NOPD's report.

The cops went wild while confronting the crowd with unholstered guns, Tasers, and pepper spray, according to citizens who were there. There is video of one officer knocking the cellphone camera out of the hand of a citizen recording the arrests, clearly showing the police were out of control.

One of the paraders arrested has anonymously written a first-person account of the whole episode that's worth reading. If that report is accurate, Chief Ronal Serpas should at least wash out the mouths of some of the 5th District officers with soap--they're definitely not the kind of officers he wants representing the NOPD.

The NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau is now investigating and welcomes any and all witnesses' reports and videos of the incident.

(Where, by the way, was the 5th District commander while all this was going on? Capt. Edwin Hosli, commander of the 8th District, was out patrolling the French Quarter and the Marigny Triangle on horseback until 2 a.m. that night. The 5th has a history of lax supervision, going back to when X-Big Chief Warren Riley was commander there as a captain.)

Certainly no one wants to stifle the spontaneity of Carnival by curtailing random parades, do they? Controlled chaos is what Carnival season is all about--the final frolic before Lent.

The problem with parading without a parade permit, I suppose, is basically it gives no notice to the police to provide protection along the parade route. That's why Endymion had to follow Baccus on Sunday after it was rained out on Saturday: there are not enough cops to man 2 parade routes for major parades at the same time.

That, of course, doesn't explain why there was virtually no police presence when St. Ann marched--or strolled, if you will--down Royal Street on Mardi Gras.

So really: What is the objection to Eris? It staged a very energetic and musically-muscled parade that seemed to be the epitome of Carnival season.

Isn't the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution sufficient permission to parade when and with whom one wants?

Quiet Mardi Gras, except...: Responding to a 911 call of a "male down" at Burgundy and Canal streets on Sunday around 9:27 p.m., 8th District officers found a 22-year-old black guy who had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen, back and arm. He was hauled to the Interim LSU Public Hospital and was listed in good condition.

Cops initially listed it as aggravated battery, but if you stab someone enough, I guess you have to call it attempted murder, which is what the police are doing. No suspect or description of one was available.

More hot heads: Who knows what they fight about, but they do:

• Sunday (3.6.11) 10 p.m.: A group of black fellas were walking near Bourbon and St. Louis streets when one of them got into a confrontation with 2 other black guys. When one of his buddies tried to extricate him from the situation, the 26-year-old peacemaker was stabbed in the lower back by one of the other dudes.

He was taken by EMS to Interim LSU Public Hospital and police began looking for 2 suspects described thusly: Both in their mid-20's, one 6' tall, with shoulder-length dreadlocks, wearing a red baseball cap, dark hoodie and black jeans; the other 5'7" tall, weighing 155 pounds, with a goatee and short hair, wearing a gray hoodie.

• Wednesday (3.9.11) 5:45 a.m.: Just because Mardi Gras is over doesn't mean you can't still act stupidly and get into a fight, like these 2 guys.

A black dude and a white guy, both 24, got into some sort of tiff in a bar in the 700 block of St. Peter Street (between Bourbon and Royal streets). The black guy left, but came back an hour later and got into a fight with the white guy. The white guy allegedly pulled out a knife and slashed the black guy twice on his left arm.

Police arrested Joshua Bauers of Oklahoma on a charge of aggravated battery. He was released from OPP this morning on $25,000 bond.

And a few robberies: What would a holiday be without a few robberies? But, in truth, there were no more reported than in a usual weekend:

• Tuesday (3.8.11) 12:30 a.m.: Just as Mardi Gras day began, a black dude descended upon a 23-year-old white guy standing on Canal Street near N. Rampart Street and grabbed the iPhone out of his hand. The victim struggled with the would be robber and flagged down a passing cop.

The police charged Jeffery Ard, 22, with simple robbery. He spent his Mardi Gras in OPP in lieu of $10,000 bond and may be there through Lent.

• Monday (3.7.11) 7:00 p.m.: A 42-year-old white man walking in the 1400 block of Tulane Avenue by Tulane University Hospital was accosted by a black thug armed with a semi-automatic pistol who demanded his money. The victim surrendered his money and his cellphone.

The thief fled in a newer model silver 4-door Pontiac Grand Prix. He was described as 6' tall, with a slim build, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

• Monday (3.7.11) 12:30 p.m.: A 42-year-old white man hopped into what he thought was a taxicab in the 500 block of Esplanade Avenue (between Decatur and Chartres street) and found himself looking down the barrel of a pistol held by a white dude sitting in the back seat. The armed thug demanded money, but the victim struggled with him and the white driver before breaking away and fleeing the vehicle.

He described the would-be robbers as 25 to 30 years old, the gunman as 6' tall and weighing 200 pounds.

• Monday (3.7.11) 5:20 a.m.: Two men, one 61 and the other 20, were sitting in their car in the 100 block of Elks Place, just off Canal Street, when a black thug tapped on their window with a pistol and demanded they get out of the car. The victims exited and the hijacker and 2 buddies got in the gray Ford Focus and sped away, turning on Tulane Avenue toward S. Claiborne Avenue.

The robbers were described as in their 20's, one 6'1" tall, weighing 180 pounds, wearing a dark hoodie and khaki shorts; another 5'9" tall, with short hair and a dark complexion, wearing a white T-shirt and dark-colored jeans; the third was possibly a female, 5'4" tall, with a twist hairstyle and dark complexion, wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans.

• Monday (3.7.11) 1:00 a.m.: A security guard at a parking lot on Elysian Fields Avenue, right behind the Hotel De La Monnaie on Esplanade Avenue, wound up loosing his cellphone to a gang of black boys when he tried to apprehend one of them who was spraying graffiti on a wall. The other 2 punks began punching the guard while the other took his iPhone from his belt.

The guard managed to grab one of the miscreants, while the other 2 fled, and flagged down Det. Mike Flores who arrested the 16-year-old.

Once again, it begs the question of why there isn't more effort to round up juveniles breaking curfew. When ever you look at the rap sheet of a criminal, it seems his gateway crime was a curfew violation--running the street just looking for trouble.

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Crimes last week in the 8th District
(Click on the crime map to enlarge it)

Sunday (2.27.11)

Rape, 123 Baronne, 12:14 a.m.
Pickpocketing, 600 Bourbon, 12:22 a.m.
Pickpocketing, 400 Bourbon, 12:47 a.m.
Simple Robbery, 511 Bourbon, 3:37 a.m.
Aggravated Battery, 200 Decatur, 4:04 a.m.
Aggravated Assault, 700 Iberville, 5:53 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 700 Kerlerec, 10:54 a.m.
Theft, 633 Canal, 2:27 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, 200 Girod, 9:47 p.m.

Monday (2.28.11)

Auto Burglary, 400 Esplanade, 12:49 a.m.
Theft, 441 Bourbon, 1:42 a.m.
Business Burglary, 602 Frenchmen, 7:21 a.m.
Auto Burglary, Camp & Calliope, 10:05 a.m.
Auto Theft, 930 Poydras, 10:49 a.m.
Theft, 621 Esplanade, 2:54 p.m.
Auto Theft, 400 block of Girod, 9:02 p.m.
Theft, 511 Bourbon, 10:54 p.m.

Tuesday (3.1.11)

Shoplifting , 301 Canal, 2:39 p.m.
Theft, 509 Iberville, 10:55 p.m.

Wednesday (3.2.11)

Shoplifting, 134 Royal, 5:34 p.m.
Auto Burglary, Dauphine & Esplanade, 7:50 p.m.

Thursday (3.3.11)

Theft, Bourbon & Canal, 1:22 a.m.
Theft, Common & St Charles, 12:53 p.m.
Theft, 1001 Convention Center, 8:42 p.m.
Theft, Canal & St Charles, 10:48 p.m.

Friday (3.4.11)

Residence Burglary, 600 block of Iberville, 12:40 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 1100 St Anthony, 2:34 a.m.
Theft, 935 Burgundy, 7:51 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 900 Tchoupitoulas, 9:17 a.m.
Theft, 1040 St Charles, 12:31 p.m.
Auto Theft, Burgundy & Iberville, 6:13 p.m.

Saturday (3.5.11)

Auto Burglary, Conti & N Rampart, 12:11 p.m.
Theft, 315 Magazine, 12:23 p.m.
Auto Theft, Constance & John Churchill Chase, 3:34 p.m.
Theft, 123 Baronne, 3:34 p.m.
Shoplifting, 414 N Peters, 5:39 p.m.
Pickpocketing, 228 Poydras, 8:39 p.m.
Theft, 400 Bourbon, 9:13 p.m.

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

Thom Kahler