David “Poochie’’ Johnson, 38, and Courney Major, 30 both of Violet, booked with attempted murder and armed robbery of a couple they knew

 Apr 28, 2011 - A Violet couple was booked with attempted murder after the woman lost control of a car and drove it through a house while a man they had been arguing with was being held in a window of its passenger side, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

He said what apparently began as an argument over a lost or stolen cell phone ended with a robbery of a woman’s purse and David “Poochie’’ Johnson, 38, and Courtney Major, 30, being booked with attempted murder of Kendrick Bailey, 38, also of Violet, and armed robbery of a woman. Johnson and Major accused Bailey of stealing the cell phone, authorities said.

Bailey had reached into the window of the car as the couple drove away in an effort to try to get back the purse, Pohlmann said, and allegedly was being held by Johnson against the side of the vehicle as Major lost control and smashed the vehicle through a house, struck a vehicle and a second house. A resident inside the second house was slightly injured.

Bailey was bashed as was held to the side of the moving car as the couple drove through the first house and then struck the second residence, Pohlmann said.

Bailey suffered a broken jaw and head and rib injuries, and was taken to University Hospital in New Orleans, Pohlmann said.

The incident happened about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the 2100 block of Licciardi Lane in Violet in eastern St. Bernard Parish.

Major allegedly pulled a knife on Becky Mackles, 27, of Violet, during the argument over the cell phone and Mackles’ purse was taken, then she and Johnson attempted to drive off, which led Bailey to reach into the vehicle, Pohlmann said.

Major and Johnson fled on foot after the car accidents.

Both were arrested following a struggle when they were found about 2 a.m. on April 28 in a house in the 200 block of Walkers Lane in Meraux.

Major and Johnson, who along with Bailey all have past criminal records, were booked with attempted murder of Bailey, armed robbery of Mackles, criminal damage to property and resisting an officer.
Major and Johnson were booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison. Johnson was being held on $300,000 bond and Major on bond of $225,000. 

The alleged stolen purse wasn’t recovered, Pohlmann said, but said a pill bottle that had been in Mackles’ purse was found during the arrests

Apr 28, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Marine Division took part with New Orleans police in recovering the body of a young male found Thursday, April 28, in Lake Pontchartrain, near the Rigolets in eastern New Orleans.
Using an air boat from the Sheriff’s Office, the body was located in a shallow, marshy area of the lake just west of the Rigolets and investigators were trying to determine if the male was one of two teen-age boys who disappeared on Sunday, April 24, after having gone swimming along the lake.

Capt. Brian Clark, commander of the sheriff’s Marine Division, and Maj. Kelly Lauga participated in recovering the body after New Orleans Police sought a shallow water craft to look in an area where something had been spotted.

Police were also working in conjunction with agents from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

The Rigolets are east of the spot where two 13-year-old boys went missing.

Deputy Chief Marlon Defillo of the New Orleans Police Department said the body, clad only in underwear, was found 20 miles east of where the boys were last seen. He said experts had said water and wind theoretically could have carried the body that far.

The boys, Aaronne "Lil Rony" Mitchell and Aaronne "Baby Rony" Russell, told a neighbor that day that they were going for a swim at Lincoln Beach, a historic swimming area along Lake Pontchartrain.

Apr 27, 2011 - A challenge has been issued: the St. Bernard Middle School Eagles will field a team of boys and girls against the Sheriff’s Office in a game of cabbage ball at the school at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 6, to benefit charitable causes.

An admission fee of $3 will be charged and concessions will be sold.

It’s the first game of what could become an annual event, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The middle school of grades 6-8 is located on Torres Drive in St. Bernard community.

Apr 27, 2011 - A Chalmette man was arrested by Louisiana State Police investigators on charges of child pornography on Thursday, April 21.

Nicholas Licciardi, 18 2612 Plaza Drive, was booked with pornography involving juveniles. His bond was set at $70,000 and he has been released after posting a property bond.

A judge issued a warrant to search Licciardi’s home after troopers received information indicating he was downloading explicit photos of children, State Police said.

They said the search revealed computers containing numerous images of child pornography and Licciardi was arrested and booked into the St. Bernard Parish Prison.

State Police said troopers will continue to work in cooperation with other agencies throughout the state to weed out child pornography through “Operation Child Watch.”

Melvin Hendricks, wanted for passing $10,000 in counterfeit checks.

Apr 25, 2011 - Melvin Hendricks, 41, who has an extensive criminal history of drugs and violent crimes, is being sought for passing counterfeit checks totaling some $10,000 in St. Bernard Parish.

Hendricks, who has lived in St. Bernard and elsewhere in the New Orleans area, is wanted on four counts of forgery involving counterfeit checks resembling real company checks and may still be trying to pass bogus ones, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Hendricks should call the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111 and they could be eligible for a reward.

In an unrelated case, a registered sex offender wanted in St. Bernard Parish for aggravated burglary by breaking into a home was caught by New Orleans police on Saturday, April 23, Pohlmann said.

Byron Sakobie, 28, previously convicted of carnal knowledge of a juvenile girl, broke through the back door of a Chalmette residence in the early morning hours of April 10 and entered the bedroom of a woman who lived there, Pohlmann said. The man fled when she screamed when she saw him.

The description the victim provided fit the general description of Sakobie, a registered sex offender who has also had other brushes with the law, Pohlmann said.

When shown photos, the victim was able to identify Sakokie, Pohlmann said, and a judge later signed a warrant for his arrest for aggravated burglary.

New Orleans police found Sakobie on Bourbon Street, verified the warrant for his arrest was still good, and St. Bernard authorities picked him up and booked him into St. Bernard Parish Prison on the wanted charge, Pohlmann said.

Apr 23, 2011 - Two young men trying to burglarize a truck in Chalmette got the worst of it when one had an arm rolled over by his get-away driver and the other was shot at by the owner of the vehicle when he allegedly pointed a gun, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Both men escaped in a gray Dodge Caliber following the 7 p.m. incident Wednesday night, April 20, in the 2300 block of Corinne Drive, Pohlmann said. However, the owner, who came outside with a handgun when he saw someone climbing into his truck, told sheriff’s deputies he thought he hit the driver when he fired twice after the driver allegedly pointed a gun at him.

No residents of the street were injured. The burglar who was surprised in the act by the vehicle’s owner was injured when he ran to get into the moving Dodge get-away car but fell to the ground and his right arm was rolled over by his accomplice’s right rear tire, Pohlmann said. When he got up, his arm was dangling as if it were broken but he got  into the accomplice’s car and they drove away, Pohlmann said.

“This was a case of the bad guys immediately suffering the consequences of trying to commit a crime in St. Bernard Parish,’’ Pohlmann said.

The Sheriff’s Office checked local hospitals but hasn’t found anyone with a gunshot wound that was unreported to authorities or heard of anyone treated for a broken arm.

No charges were filed against the vehicle owner over the shootings because he appeared to have acted in self-defense, Pohlmann said.

In unrelated cases, sheriff’s deputies arrested a burglar inside a vacant house and marijuana was seized in two arrests that began with traffic stops, Pohlmann said.

Stephen Somerville, 49, no address available, was arrested late April 9 when Deputy Jason Preveau caught him inside a vacant house on Joseph Drive after being dispatched on a possible break-in.  Somerville, who resisted arrest, was booked with simple burglary and resisting an officer.

Somerville, booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison, admitted after his arrest he had been trying to steal copper wire to sell. There was no bond information available.

In the unrelated drug arrests, Deputy Jason Spadoni was on patrol at midday on April 20 when he saw a motorist without a license plate on his vehicle disregard a stop sign. When the deputy tried to stop the man he pulled into a driveway, then ran from the vehicle, Pohlmann said. The man was found nearby in a back yard, where he resisted arrest before he was subdued.

Afterward, the deputy found just under two ounces of marijuana in the suspect’s car, packaged in 43 separate clear baggies and a rock-like substance in a baggie that tested positive for cocaine, Pohlmann said.

Marcus Perkins, 25, 3712 Jupiter drive, Chalmette, was booked with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of the cocaine, criminal trespassing, driving with a suspended license and several other driving-related offenses. He was booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison but there was no bond information.

In the second drug arrest, two men were arrested and marijuana and $800 in cash seized after Deputy Randy Dabdoub, on patrol in Chalmette in the early morning hours of April 17, saw a motorist disregard a stop sign.

Brandon Kelly, 19, of Mandeville, the motorist, was found to have the cash and marijuana but investigation by the deputy led to a second man, Vu Han, 19, 3900 Blanchard Drive, Chalmette. Han had more than an ounce of marijuana at his residence.

Also, St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s officials were alerted to the situation involving Kelly and they later went to his residence, where about a half-ounce of marijuana was located, the officials told St. Bernard deputies. St. Tammany deputies said they would obtain a warrant from a judge for Kelly’s arrest on a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

In St. Bernard, Kelly and Van were booked on marijuana charges. Bond information wasn’t available on either.

Matthew Gotch, 25, wanted for attempted murder in Lafayette, turns his head away as he is led from an apartment complex in Arabi where he was arrested Wednesday, April 20, by, at left, St. Bernard Parish Chief of Detectives Col. John Doran and Det. Capt. Mark Jackson. Jackson is carrying a handgun recovered during the arrest of Gotch and three others.  In the background is Lt. Robert Broadhead. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO.

Apr 20, 2011 - A Lafayette man wanted for the December 2010 attempted murder of a New Iberia teen-ager he allegedly shot was arrested outside an apartment complex in St. Bernard Parish on Wednesday, April 20, after he gave a ride there to a man who also was arrested, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Matthew Gotch, 25, who has a history of violence and drug-dealing arrests, Pohlmann said, was taken into custody by sheriff’s detectives who had gone to the apartment complex in the 1200 block of Mehle Avenue in Arabi on an unrelated matter. Three others were arrested there in connection with the Gotch arrest, Pohlmann said.

Gotch, who fired multiple shots at an 18-year-old victim and struck him once in the 2010 incident in Lafayette, was wanted on a warrant charging attempted second-degree murder, Pohlmann said. Gotch said he has been living in Metairie.

The warrant was issued in Lafayette in March after Gotch was identified as the shooter. He will be held in St. Bernard Parish Prison as a fugitive until Lafayette authorities come to take him back there for prosecution, Pohlmann said.

Gotch was found in a vehicle outside the apartment complex.

While sheriff’s detectives were at the Mehle Avenue apartments they learned of a disturbance in an apartment and when investigating found several men and recovered a handgun.

One of the men found at the apartment was Dudley Gaines, 30, of New Orleans, whom Gotch had just given a ride to the apartments, Pohlmann said.

Upon checking Gaines’ background, it was learned he had a sex offense conviction and wasn’t in compliance with notifying law enforcement of his current address, Pohlmann said.

Gaines was booked on the sex offense non-compliance charge
and he and two others staying in the apartment, Justin Plessy, 20, and Quincy Robertson Jr., 22, were all booked with being convicted felons in possession of a firearm.

Above left, Rhonda Ritchie, booked with manufacture of methamphetamine in St. Bernard Parish. Above center, James Howell Jr., booked with creating or operating a meth lab. Abpve right, Bernard Parish narcotics agent Cpl. Jesse Gernados, wears a special suit as she prepares for decontamination of one of the arrested suspects, Rhonda Ritchie - shown in the background at right – as she is handcuffed and sitting in a chair. To the left in the background is the recreational vehicle where the methamphetamine was made. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO

Narcotics agents from St. Tammany Parish, dressed in safety outfits, lay out precursors for making meth that were found in an RV where a lab operated in St. Bernard Parish. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO

April 19, 2011 - A Texas woman and an Alabama man, both working in St. Bernard Parish, were arrested Tuesday, April 19, for operating a methamphetamine lab in a recreational vehicle they were living in at a Meraux Trailer Park, Sheriff Jack A. Stephens said.

A small amount of meth and precursors used to make the drug were recovered after sheriff’s narcotics agents, acting on a tip by phone, set up surveillance and got information to obtain a warrant from a judge to search the RV, which happened in mid-afternoon. They found meth, precursors and empty packages of an over-the-counter cold medication used in the manufacture, the sheriff said.

Rhonda Ritchie of Texas, no age available or information on what city she came from, was booked with manufacturing methamphetamine in the RV, Sheriff Stephens said. James Howell Jr., 39, of Alabama, no information on his city, was booked on a lesser charge of creating or operating a clandestine meth lab. Both were living in St. Bernard after coming to work at jobs in the parish.

Both suspects were being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison pending an appearance before a judge to have bonds set.

It was the first time since before Hurricane Katrina that anyone has been caught manufacturing meth in St. Bernard Parish. A man was booked last December while preparing to set up a lab in a building in Arabi.

Both Ritchie and Howell, arrested at the trailer park, had to be decontaminated in a portable center set up at the scene by the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department before they could be taken to the prison in Chalmette.

As well as narcotics agents and Street Crimes Unit officers from the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division commanded by Col. Chad Clark, several narcotics officers from the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office participated in the dismantling of the meth lab in the RV, Sheriff Stephens said.

Also, State Police took part in the investigation and the company U.S. Environmental Services was involved in clean-up at the scene.

Rashad Alexisz (left) and Eric Green (right) both booked with two counts of forgery over $1,000.

Apr 17, 2011 - What began as a call about a disturbance in a Chalmette pharmacy has led to the arrests of two men who used fake or bad checks in numerous parishes to buy high amount gift cards and other items in stores totaling thousands of dollars, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The two are booked with two counts each of forgery over $1,000 in St. Bernard Parish, in connection with incidents in two stores, he said.

State Police investigators have also taken up cases in which the pair allegedly committed similar offenses in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and Baton Rouge and they are believed to be part of a large ring led by others.

Pohlmann said, “These men are the subject of investigations by multiple law enforcement agencies in a number of parishes. But the Sheriff’s Office caught them in Chalmette.’’

Eric Green, 19, New Orleans, and Rashad J. Alexis, 17, of Baton Rouge, are both booked in St. Bernard with the forgery charges, as well as with simple criminal damage and disturbing the peace at a pharmacy in Chalmette, where sheriff’s deputies answered a disturbance call in late March. Green also was booked with reckless operation of a vehicle after they fled the pharmacy.

Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Brandon Licciardi came into contact with the suspect vehicle going east on East Judge Perez Drive at Palmisano Boulevard in Chalmette and stopped them with assistance from Deputy Brian Canepa, Pohlmann said.

Both Green and Alexis are being held in St. Bernard Prison in lieu of bond; Green’s bond is $58,750 and Alexis’ is $58,500.

Pohlmann said the suspects caused a disturbance in the store when a clerk refused to sell them a $500 gift card which they attempted to pay for with checks. They didn’t provide identification and were turned down. They began cursing, making threats and throwing several items about the store, damaging and breaking some of them but left when pharmacy officials called the Sheriff’s Office.

Surveillance video in the store captured the disturbance.

When caught, they were belligerent with officers, refusing to identify themselves.

Various blank checks, company checks, a drivers’ license in another man’s name and other documents were found inside their vehicle after the arrests, Pohlmann said.

State Police are now probing the pharmacy incident as part of their overall investigation of Green and Alexis, as well as the larger ring.

But Pohlmann said two other stores in St. Bernard had recently been victims of fraud by subjects using fake or bad checks and both Green and Rashad are being held in the parish in connection with those incidents.

Sandra Lightell, mother held in attempted muder of her two young daughters

Apr 16, 2011 - A Chalmette woman who was distraught and was drinking at her home was being held Saturday night for the attempted murder of her 6-year-old and 10-year-old daughters after she made threats to smother them and also held both children in choke holds, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Sandra Lightell, 36, was arrested at her home on Charles Drive about 5:15 p.m. St. Bernard Sheriff’s Deputy Byron Shoemaker went there to investigate a call from another of the woman’s daughters who doesn’t live with her that the mother had left her a phone voice message saying she might smother the young ones, Pohlmann said.

Shoemaker heard children crying inside as he approached the residence but Lightell, when she answered the door, said everything was okay.

The deputy, however, went in and the children said their mother had held both by the throat and had tried to put a pillow over the youngest one’s head, Pohlmann said. One child had a scratch and both were evaluated by medical technicians but didn’t require further medical treatment, he said. The mother and the two children were the only ones in the house.

The children were placed in the care of an aunt.

Pohlmann said Lightell, who admitted she had been drinking alcohol and was on several medications, was arrested and on the way to St. Bernard Parish Prison broke a window in a police patrol car.

She was being booked Saturday night with two counts of attempted murder, criminal damage to the patrol car and with resisting officers, Pohlmann said.

Photo Caption: Sandra Lightell, mother held in attempted muder of her two young daughters

Apr 14, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is trying to identify a man who recently stole a cell phone and a wallet containing cash in a restaurant in Chalmette, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

A surveillance video from the restaurant shows a man, who has facial hair, steal the wallet and cell phone when the items were left alone. The unidentified man is with three young children with him.

Anyone with information about the name of the thief should call the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office at 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at 822-1111.

Apr 13, 2011 - A man who is a registered sex offender in St. Bernard Parish is now wanted on a warrant alleging aggravated burglary by breaking into a home occupied by a woman, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Byron Sakobie, 28, previously convicted of carnal knowledge of a juvenile girl, broke through the back door of a Chalmette residence in the early morning hours of April 10 and entered the bedroom of a woman who lived there, Pohlmann said. The man fled when she screamed upon seeing him.

Pohlmann said the woman’s boyfriend, who was also in the residence, chased the intruder but lost sight of him when he ran out the back door. 

The description the victim provided, a short white man with curly red hair, fit the general description of Sakobie, a registered sex offender who has also had other brushes with the law, Pohlmann said.

When shown photos, the victim was able to identify Sakokie, Pohlmann said, and a judge later signed a warrant for his arrest for aggravated burglary.

Anyone knowing Sakobie’s whereabouts should call the Sheriff’s Office at 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at 822-1111 and they may be eligible for a reward.

Kenneth Sextion, 25, wanted in St. Bernard Parish for attempted aggravated burglary involving a gun

Apr 9, 2011 - A man who carried a handgun and tried to kick in the door of an occupied apartment in Arabi early March 20 is wanted in St. Bernard Parish on an arrest warrant alleging aggravated burglary, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Kenneth Sextion, 25, no address available, was identified by sheriff’s detectives as the man who tried to kick in the front door as the occupant looked down from an upstairs window and saw Sextion.  He  said Sextion was holding a handgun and was arguing with a woman who wanted him to leave with her, Pohlmann said. 

The victim said the subject looked familiar from around the apartment complex in the 1200 block of Tenebrach Drive in Arabi.

The man said he yelled down at the intruder that he had a gun also and both the man and woman fled, Pohlmann said.

Detectives recently obtained a warrant from a judge for the arrest of Sextion for aggravated burglary.

Sextion has a lengthy criminal record and should be considered armed. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call the Sheriff’s Office at 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at 822-1111 and they could be eligible for a reward.

Ralph Topey III, 29, of Violet, booked with felony cruelty to an animal

Apr 8, 2011 - A St. Bernard Parish man who was angered after his pit bull made a mess in his bedroom struck the animal four times with a baseball bat and drove a 4-foot sword through his neck – exiting the lower throat - but the dog was still alive after being taken to a an animal emergency clinic, Chief Deputy James Pohlmann said.

Ralph J. Topey III, 29, 2325 General Pershing St., Violet, was booked April 6 with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a felony, and is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of bond set at $65,000.

The incident happened late the night of April 5 after Topey, who had been at a bar having alcohol beverages, returned to a residence he shares with several relatives, Pohlmann said.
A relative of Topey said she saw him walk from his room in an angry manner and told her the pit bull had made a mess in his bedroom. She then saw a trail of blood in the residence and found the dog in the bathroom, covered in blood, Pohlmann said. The woman called another relative who came and brought the dog to an animal emergency clinic on the West Bank for treatment.

The dog, which received fractures to the facial area in the beating, as well as the wound to the neck and throat, is now with that relative who took him for treatment.

Sheriff’s deputies, called to the residence on April 6, interviewed Ralph Topey, who acknowledged beating and stabbing the animal out of anger. He said he hid the bat and sword but told deputies their location and both were recovered.

Topey was then taken to jail.

Apr 6, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, which has collected thousands of old or unneeded prescription medications since starting “Operation Medicine Cabinet,’’ a year ago, will once again participate in a national “take-back’’ day with federal and state authorities, Sheriff Jack A. Stephens said.

Pills and other forms of prescription medication will be received on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sheriff’s Office sub-station at 5429 Paris Road, just south of Bayou Bievenue and the Orleans Parish boundary.

“Operation Medicine Cabinet has been an unqualified success for us and the people of St. Bernard and has resulted in more than 6,000 prescription medicines, mostly pills, to be eliminated before they fall into the wrong hands, ’’ Sheriff Stephens said.

“We encourage individuals to rid their households of unneeded prescription medications as a means to fight misuse of such drugs,’’ Sheriff Stephens said. “Don’t throw them in the trash where others may find them and don’t flush them in the toilet because studies show prescription drugs disposed of that way are already polluting our supply of drinking water’’ and are harmful to fish and wildlife.

The effort is directed at lowering the chances of old medications being stolen from residences, possibly by teen-agers or other visitors to homes, and then being used or illegally sold on the streets.

St. Bernard residents can either call (504) 271-DOPE to make arrangements to drop off any unneeded or expired prescriptions drugs or they can come to the sub-station on April 30, the sheriff said.

Agents of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division, commanded by Col. Chad Clark, check messages on the DOPE HOTLINE each day and will return all calls to arrange to have old or unused prescriptions medications surrendered to be destroyed.

“Operation Medicine Cabinet’’ began in April 2010 and since then about 5,000 pills and other medications have been collected and another 1,000 were received last Sept. 25 when the Sheriff’s Office participated in the first national “take-back’’ day in combination with federal and state authorities.

The sheriff said teen-agers addicted to prescription medications often admit they have raided their parents’ medicine cabinet to get drugs or stolen them at the homes of relatives or friends, including such tablets as the pain-killer Vicodin, the anxiety medicine Xanax and Valium.
 
The group Partnership for a Drug Free America has estimated that each day 2,500 youngsters across the nation abuse prescription drugs for the first time, adding teen-agers now abuse prescription medications more than any illegal drugs except marijuana.

April 4, 2011 - Drug-dealers should go to prison but users who become hooked need a chance to overcome their problem, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Polmann told participants in the St. Bernard Parish drug court program at a special session in which two former users were graduating after remaining drug-free.

“I know the impact drugs have on a community. It’s not easy to quit and I admire you’’ for facing your problem, Pohlmann told the group.

“There are many ways to become addicted, sometimes as simply as being prescribed pain-killers after an accident,’’ Pohlmann said. “It’s how you get off (drugs) that matters. It takes you to get yourselves out of the hole’’ and some people can’t do it and end up committing crimes for money for illegal drugs, he said.

A major problem, Pohlmann said, is there isn’t enough help for average people because the cost of private drug rehabilitation is out of their reach.

It makes it so important for drug court programs such as the one in St. Bernard, he said. Drug court programs are funded through the Louisiana Supreme Court to help free people from dependence on drugs as a step to rehabilitate them from a life of crime.

Pohlmann said he favors intense education programs in schools from an early age to drive home the message of the harm drugs do and what can be done to stay away from them.

He also said, “Parents need to understand the warning signs’’ of drug use and should be prepared to drug-test their children if they suspect use, as a means to get them help for them.

It’s clear there is a connection between the drug problem and the crime problem, which is so heavily driven by users looking for their next fix, Pohlmann said.

There are currently about 30 adults in the St. Bernard program and a lesser number in the parish program for teen offenders, said state
District Court Judge Kirk Vaughn, who has headed the drug court program two years.

The program seems to be helping, Vaughn said.

“It’s up to each graduate to walk the path (of being drug-free) and fight that fight the rest of their lives. We like to think that graduating means drug use is behind them,’’ Vaughn said.

Vaughn told the drug court participants on hand for the latest graduation, “We have given you the tools.’’

There are two requirements for an arrested offender to be introduced to the program in St. Bernard: they must be a parish resident and can’t have any crime of violence in their past, said Don Muller, administrator for drug court.

Drugs must be the underlying cause of the offender’s crime for them to be eligible for inclusion in the drug court program.

“You have to stay drug-free’’ to advance by steps in the program, Muller said. Participants plead guilty to crimes charged before they are assigned to the program and are sentenced upon completion and graduation. If they pass they are eligible to have the plea expunged, Muller said.

Blanchard said, “I want to thank the group and our staff for what you all did. I’m so grateful.’’

Family members of both of the young men praised the benefits of a drug court program, saying they see a different person now than when the men were involved in drugs.

April 3, 2011 - Veteran St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Kenney is looking for problems he can solve for the public.

Kenney, recently appointed by Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann as Quality of Life Officer for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, told a meeting of the AARP Pakenham Chapter 3926 that his new post covers a wide range of services.

His dealings include: parish code enforcement problems, abandoned property where people are illegally gathering, abandoned vehicles, repeated disturbances such as loud music, loitering or empty swimming pools.

A hotline number of (504) 278-7799 has been established to reach Kenney. He can also be called through the sheriff’s Crime Prevention number of (504) 278-7528.

It’s about eliminating blight that leads to crime or lowers the quality of life in the parish, Kenney told a meeting of about 55 members of AARP group at the parish Senior Center in Chalmette.

“Call me if you se people hanging around, maybe doing drugs,’’ Kenney said. “Abandoned swimming pools must be enclosed or it’s a safety hazard. If someone is blaring music, call me.’’

Abandoned vehicles or even ones with flat tires in driveways can be dealt with, he said. Other problem areas, Kenney said, can include illegally operating boarding houses, or acts of vandalism and graffiti.

Sandra Reuther, President of the AARP chapter, and several members asked questions of the officer, such as whether there is a length of time groups can stand on a public corner before it becomes loitering?

Kenney said it involves what people are doing when they gather, saying deputies can look into anything that could be suspicious activity. “Always call the Sheriff’s Office (general number of 271-2501) if you see anything suspicious.’’

One person said she didn’t want to bother the Sheriff’s Office over nothing, but Kenney assured her no officer would be upset if a call didn’t pan out because residents’ concerns are a top priority and investigating a complaint could lead to stopping crime in progress.

Another person praised the Sheriff’s Office in her dealings with the department, saying a security alarm went off in her home once and deputies were there to investigate before she even received a call about it from her alarm company.

Pohlmann has said Kenney will act as a bridge to parish government in certain matters because “problems of blight and other issues often become criminal violations.’’

He also said when he created Kenney’s position he wanted more street level intelligence for the Sheriff’s Office as Kenney interacts with people. Issues requiring long-term investigation by specialized units such as sheriff’s detectives or narcotics agents will be documented and forwarded to the appropriate division.