Murder vs. Crime rate: While robbers were invading residents' homes right and left and thugs were holding up tourists in the French Quarter, Mayor Mitch Landrieu was holding a "crime summit."
But what he was concerned about was not those crimes which affect you and me, he was worried about the murder rate--the problem, for the most part, of young black boys killing other black boys.
He repeats an age-old gaffe: mistaking the murder rate for the crime rate. Murder, of course, is a crime. But unless you're a young black male, your chances of getting killed in this city are probably no greater than in any other city.
But it is the negative publicity about the number of homicides in New Orleans that puts Mayor Mitch on edge--because it may affect tourism.
Mitch, how about worrying about those of us who live here, that we can safely sit in our homes and not have a robber barge in, that we can walk down Bourbon Street without getting clobbered or robbed.
Those are the things we call crime and should be listed in the "crime rate" that affects us all.
Here's what we call crime: While Mayor Mitch was assailing murder last week, here's what assailants were doing to us:
- Thursday (9.15.11) 7:55 p.m.: A 32-year-old white man walking on St. Ann Street near Bourbon Street was accosted by 3 black thugs who forced him to give up his cellphone.
The victim, for whatever reason, was unable to give police a detailed description of the robbers.
- Friday (9.16.11) 2:30 a.m.: A 34-year-old black woman walking on S. Peters Street near Canal Street was set upon by 6 black chicks who emerged from a white compact car and began pummeling her with their shoes. They took the victim's purse and got back in the car and sped off.
The victim described 2 of her assailants as 25 years old, both 5'7" tall, one weighing 220 pounds with short hair, the other 265 pounds; the third was in her early 20's, 5'4" tall, weighing 115 pounds with long black hair; the other 3 were nondescript.
And all of them in a compact car?
- Friday (9.16.11) 10:45 p.m.: A 31-year-old white woman walking on Bourbon Street near St. Louis Street had her purse snatched by a black hoodlum who pulled it from her grasp.
He was described as 20 to 30 years old, 5'7" tall, with a slim build, wearing a black T-shirt and black pants.
- Sunday (9.18.11) 5:57 a.m.: Two Hispanic women, one 41 years old, who were walking to their car on St. Ann Street near N. Rampart Street were held up by a gun-wielding black punk who stuck the gun in one of the women's back and relieved one of her cellphone and the other of her purse.
The one who lost her purse refused to give the police any information, including her age, before returning to Metairie, fearing she might be deported.
The other victim, who lost her cellphone, described the robber as 30 years old, 5'11" tall, with a slim build, wearing a white dress shirt.
The other victim, who lost her cellphone, described the robber as 30 years old, 5'11" tall, with a slim build, wearing a white dress shirt.
- Sunday (9.18.11) 11:28 p.m.: A 27-year-old white woman
walking near Magazine and Poydras streets had her purse pulled from her grasp by a black dude who tried to get away down Poydras on foot.
Police caught Drexler Johnson, 23, and charged him with pursesnatching. He is being held in OPP on $20,000 bond and for the U.S. Marshals who want him for prison escape.
If Mayor Mitch really wants to fight crime, he ought to find a way to get 8th District Det. Willie Jenkins some help. Det. Jenkins was the lead detective on ALL of the above cases. If you have any information that could help this overworked detective solve any of the cases, email him at wjenkins@nola.gov.Let sleeping dogs lie: One bum hanging out in Cabrini Dog Park apparently forgot that adage when he tried to rob another bum there last Wednesday (9.21.11) shortly after 9 a.m. and got carved up pretty badly.
When police arrived at 917 Barracks St., across from the park at Barracks and Dauphine streets, they found Chisesi Simpson, a 47-year-old black convicted felon, sitting on the steps, bleeding profusely. They also found a black bag with 2 cellphones in it and other items.
Simpson was hauled to the hospital and detectives went over to the park to try to figure out what happened. A neighbor told the detective bums gathered in the park to charge their cellphones from an extension cord that dangled from the ceiling of the open-air shelter at the park's entrance on Dauphine.
There they found a drunken white fella, Armond Enfinger, 59, sleeping under the shelter and woke him up. Though he had specs of blood on him, he told police he didn't know how they got there. He did tell detectives, though, that he and his black buddy had been sitting near another white guy, later identified as Jasper Harden, 39, and when Simpson saw Harden's cellphone, he told Enfinger, "I'm gonna take everything he got."
Harden told cops he stopped at the park because he was too drunk to ride his bicycle anymore and wanted to charge his cellphone. While his cellphone was charging he fell asleep, only to awake to find Simpson digging through his pants pockets. When he asked Simpson what was going on, Simpson replied, "I ain't doing nothing."
Fearing for his safety, Harden pulled a knife from his pocket and began backing away. That's when Simpson lunged at him from 3 or 4 feet away, Harden told police, and he instinctively swung his knife from right to left and cut Simpson on his inner right forearm.
Police deemed Harden, on probation for a domestic abuse conviction this past spring, the victim and not the aggressor, so didn't charge him.
They did determine the phones in the black bag they found near Simpson on Barracks belonged to Harden. An officer went to the hospital and issued a summons to Simpson for theft, assault, and possession of stolen property.
You would think the police would patrol this neighborhood oasis better if it's a bunkhouse for armed felons. Or if you're going to the dog park, leave little Fifi at home and take your Doberman.
resulted in the arrest of Jacob O. Lee (pictured), 30, last Sunday (9.18.11) for the armed robbery of a Bourbon Street cafe and a Frenchmen Street deli.The tip led cops to a residence in New Orleans East where they found Lee and Keith Holmes, 21. Lee was charged with 2 counts of armed robbery and police said Holmes--who may or may not have been Lee's getaway driver in one of the robberies--was also taken in on a warrant.
Lee is being held on $500,000 bond in OPP and Holmes, curiously, isn't in OPP though he was wanted on a $20,000 capias for failing to pay fines last May following his guilty plea to a charge of illegally carrying a weapon.
Lee was charged in the armed robbery of the Candy Bar cafe, 908 Bourbon St., on 9.9.11 and the robbery of the Frenchmen Deli & Grocery, 602 Frenchmen St., on 9.12.11.Cops don't seem to know what happened to him; according to court records, he's still "at large."
Bad man at large: An arrest warrant was issued 9.16.11
for the arrest of Melvin Miguel, 23, who is believed to have attempted one armed robbery in the French Quarter and is being investigated in connection with other recent Quarter robberies as well.Police believe Miguel is the guy who tried to rob a 46-year-old Asian woman of her purse on 9.9.11 while she was walking around 4:40 a.m. in the 600 block of Iberville Street. The suspect attempted to pull the victim’s purse from her grasp, but she resisted. The suspect then produced a handgun and demanded the purse. The victim refused and the suspect fled into the passenger side of a light colored 4-door vehicle which drove on Iberville toward Decatur, then unknown.
Soon after the car took off, a citizen noticed that a driver was acting suspiciously, so he wrote down the license plate of the car and called police with the information.
Through investigation, Det. Michael Flores found that the vehicle was registered to an acquaintance of Miguel’s, and that Miguel was most likely the gunman in the attempted armed robbery.
Flores secured an arrest warrant for Miguel for one count of attempted armed robbery as well as a search warrant for Miguel’s home in the 5000 block of Spain Street. When searching the house, detectives found bullets for a 9MM handgun as well as clothing similar to that described by the victim of the attempted armed robbery.
Miguel is currently on probation for possession of cocaine until 2015. He has additional previous convictions for access card device fraud. He has also been arrested in the past for aggravated battery, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery with a firearm felon with a firearm, trespassing, attempted simple escape, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, use of a CDS in the presence of a minor.
His possible involvement in other robberies earlier this month in and around the Quarter is still under investigation.The suspect is described as a black male, 5’08”, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and white pants. If you believe you’ve seen Miguel or if you know where he is, call CrimeStoppers at 822-1111 and cash in on the reward.
Shocking! A bad girl: Cops busted a 14-year-old girl accused of using an stun gun to steal a fellow high-school student's smartphone.
Lenika Vanburen, 
who threatened another female by turning a stun gun on and off, was charged with simple robbery. (Not armed robbery?)
The robbery happened in the 400 block of Canal Street when Vanburen and a group of other teenagers confronted a high school student who was walking and talking on her smartphone on 8.19.11 around 7:15 p.m.
who threatened another female by turning a stun gun on and off, was charged with simple robbery. (Not armed robbery?)The robbery happened in the 400 block of Canal Street when Vanburen and a group of other teenagers confronted a high school student who was walking and talking on her smartphone on 8.19.11 around 7:15 p.m.
Cops arrested little Lenika at her home in eastern New Orleans 9.7.11, but "her parents refused to allow police to question her," police reported. (Wouldn't want to traumatize her because of criminal behavior, now would we?)
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Crimes last week in the 8th District
Sunday (9.11.11)
Crimes last week in the 8th District
Pickpocketing, 511 Bourbon, 12:06 a.m.
Theft, 725 St Peter, 12:53 a.m.
Simple Robbery, Conti & Dauphine, 1:12 a.m.
Theft, 300 Decatur, 2:15 a.m.
Shoplifting, 632 Canal, 12:31 p.m.
Auto Theft, Decatur & St Louis, 2:52 p.m.
Shoplifting, 732 Canal, 3:41 p.m.
Shoplifting, 632 St Peter, 3:59 p.m.
Shoplifting, 400 N Peters, 5:18 p.m.
Auto Theft, 334 Royal, 5:20 p.m.
Monday (9.12.11) Theft, 725 St Peter, 12:53 a.m.
Simple Robbery, Conti & Dauphine, 1:12 a.m.
Theft, 300 Decatur, 2:15 a.m.
Shoplifting, 632 Canal, 12:31 p.m.
Auto Theft, Decatur & St Louis, 2:52 p.m.
Shoplifting, 732 Canal, 3:41 p.m.
Shoplifting, 632 St Peter, 3:59 p.m.
Shoplifting, 400 N Peters, 5:18 p.m.
Auto Theft, 334 Royal, 5:20 p.m.
Theft, 600 Bourbon, 4:17 a.m.
Armed Robbery, 900 Barracks, 4:54 a.m.
Armed Robbery, 840 N Rampart, 7:57 a.m.
Theft, 1500 Sugar Bowl, 10:22 a.m.
Shoplifting, 900 Canal, 10:45 a.m.
Aggravated Battery, 411 Bourbon, 12:11 p.m.
Theft, 1841 N Rampart, 5:48 p.m.
Theft, 421 Loyola, 6:36 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, Baronne & Gravier, 8:27 p.m.
Armed Robbery, 602 Frenchmen, 8:46 p.m.
Tuesday (9.13.11) Armed Robbery, 900 Barracks, 4:54 a.m.
Armed Robbery, 840 N Rampart, 7:57 a.m.
Theft, 1500 Sugar Bowl, 10:22 a.m.
Shoplifting, 900 Canal, 10:45 a.m.
Aggravated Battery, 411 Bourbon, 12:11 p.m.
Theft, 1841 N Rampart, 5:48 p.m.
Theft, 421 Loyola, 6:36 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, Baronne & Gravier, 8:27 p.m.
Armed Robbery, 602 Frenchmen, 8:46 p.m.
Pickpocketing, 1943 N Rampart, 11:31 p.m.
Wednesday (9.14.11) Theft, 123 University, 1:04 a.m.
Auto Theft, 900 Ursulines, 3:37 a.m.
Bicycle Theft, 1024 Elysian Fields, 12:19 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 421 Frenchmen, 1:26 p.m.
Theft, 920 N Rampart, 4:00 p.m.
Thursday (9.15.11) Auto Theft, 900 Ursulines, 3:37 a.m.
Bicycle Theft, 1024 Elysian Fields, 12:19 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 421 Frenchmen, 1:26 p.m.
Theft, 920 N Rampart, 4:00 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 500 St Philip, 12:56 a.m.
Theft, 927 Julia, 12:11 p.m.
Shoplifting, 134 Royal, 3:33 p.m.
Theft, 1440 Canal, 4:22 p.m.
Auto Theft, 1000 Kerlerec, 7:09 p.m.
Simple Robbery, 800 St Ann, 7:59 p.m.
Auto Theft, 1000 Kerlerec, 9:40 p.m.
Friday (9.16.11) Theft, 927 Julia, 12:11 p.m.
Shoplifting, 134 Royal, 3:33 p.m.
Theft, 1440 Canal, 4:22 p.m.
Auto Theft, 1000 Kerlerec, 7:09 p.m.
Simple Robbery, 800 St Ann, 7:59 p.m.
Auto Theft, 1000 Kerlerec, 9:40 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 100 S Rampart, 1:24 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 400 Camp, 3:39 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 344 Camp, 6:38 a.m.
Theft, 300 Gravier, 8:55 a.m.
Bicycle Theft, 365 Canal, 10:03 a.m.
Shoplifting, 700 Royal, 4:46 p.m.
Armed Robbery, Canal & S Peters, 5:19 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 810 St Joseph, 8:13 p.m.
Pursesnatching, 500 Bourbon, 11:25 p.m.
Saturday (9.17.11) Auto Burglary, 400 Camp, 3:39 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 344 Camp, 6:38 a.m.
Theft, 300 Gravier, 8:55 a.m.
Bicycle Theft, 365 Canal, 10:03 a.m.
Shoplifting, 700 Royal, 4:46 p.m.
Armed Robbery, Canal & S Peters, 5:19 p.m.
Auto Burglary, 810 St Joseph, 8:13 p.m.
Pursesnatching, 500 Bourbon, 11:25 p.m.
Pickpocket, 800 Gravier, 1:18 a.m.
Aggravated Battery, Dauphine & St Louis, 3:15 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 200 Baronne, 3:17 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 925 St Louis, 12:49 p.m.
Auto Theft, Conti & Dauphine, 12:48 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, 925 Camp, 2:31 p.m.
Auto Theft, 920 Bourbon, 4:29 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, 400 Julia, 5:06 p.m.
Aggravated Battery, Dauphine & St Louis, 3:15 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 200 Baronne, 3:17 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 925 St Louis, 12:49 p.m.
Auto Theft, Conti & Dauphine, 12:48 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, 925 Camp, 2:31 p.m.
Auto Theft, 920 Bourbon, 4:29 p.m.
Bicycle Theft, 400 Julia, 5:06 p.m.
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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.comThom Kahler
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