May 28, 2010 - A 51-year-old Chalmette woman was severely bitten by a pit bull dog in the face, chest and an arm on Friday, May 28, while visiting at a friend’s hone and required surgery at University Hospital in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The victim, whose name wasn’t released, was in serious but stable condition after the 4 p.m. attack by a family dog in the home of Dawn Hammers at 318 West Virtue St., just west of Paris Road.

Pohlmann said Hammers accompanied her friend who was taken by ambulance to the hospital after being mauled. The woman had injuries to her left arm and the right side if her chest and an arm.

The pit bull was signed over to the parish animal shelter by the Hammers family after the attack and the animal will be euthanized and tested for rabies, Pohlmann said.

The women were out front talking when the visitor asked to use a restroom, then when she went inside the residence she was attacked by the family’s pit bull who was being kept in the rear yard, but found a way to get into the house through a back door, Pohlmann said.

No charges or citations were filed because the dog was in the yard and the home and hadn’t been running free, which is illegal, Pohlmann said at the scene.

“It appears this unfortunate attack may have gone on for as long as 10 or more minutes’’ as Dawn Hammers attempted unsuccessfully to free her friend from the dog, Pohlmann said. He said it wasn’t until Hammers reached her husband, who was about five minutes away and rushed home, that he was able to pull the animal from the victim.

The husband said the dog had never attacked a person before but had fought raccoons once.

No one else was injured in the incident.

Pohlmann said it was the second incident in St. Bernard Parish in the last month in which a resident was attacked by a pit bull and in a third incident a man was bitten while breaking up a fight between a pit bull and another dog.

A young Arabi child was bitten and required more than 30 stitches April 29 when he was attacked in his driveway by a neighbor's pit bull. That dog was signed over to the parish and later euthanized and the owner of the dog was arrested for negligence in letting the animal run free outside without a leash, Pohlmann said.

Also, in early May a man was bitten while trying to break up a fight between a pit bull and another dog, Pohlmann said.

Branden Angelety, 29

May 26, 2010 - A Violet man has been arrested for possession of a $60,000 stolen triple-axle dump truck found near his residence May 14 that was part of a much larger haul of hot equipment and vehicles recovered in the same place that day, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Branden Angelety, 29, 6319 Louis Elam Drive, was booked Tuesday, May 25, on one count of possession of stolen property – a 2004 Kenilworth dump truck reported stolen in Kenner in August 2009 and now sports a new paint job.

Pohlmann said sheriff’s detectives developed information that Angelety was in possession of the $60,000 truck and had gotten it re-painted. Angelety, who denied being involved, was booked into the St. Bernard Parish Prison by Det. Trey Delaune but has been released on $10,000 bond.

An investigation is continuing into the other stolen items. Pohlmann said, “This is quite a bit of stolen property to find in one place,’’ and it seemed to be an area for chopping up stolen vehicles and storing property until there was a buyer.

Pohlmann said all the property including the dump truck was worth more than $100,000 and was recovered by St. Bernard sheriff’s detectives, commanded by Col. John Doran, and patrol officers commanded by Maj. Mark Poche. The items were found on a street that backed up to a wooded area near the Violet Canal.

Included were two front-end loaders, several trailers, a 300-gallon fuel tank and a 2006 Dodge Magnum station wagon reported stolen in New Orleans in 2009 that was missing engine parts and had many body parts taken off and left on a trailer.

Pohlmann said some property, such as the large dump truck, was found along one side of Canal Street, a cross street off East St. Bernard Highway which backs up to the wooded area about a block east of the Violet Canal and also intersects First Street.

Some were in the wooded area off the street. A recovered trailer containing on front-end loader and a 300-gallon fuel tank, were all reported stolen the morning of May 14 from a construction site at St. Bernard Middle School, Pohlmann said.

The trove of stolen items were found when deputies looked into a tip that a stolen 4-wheel all-terrain vehicle might be in the area, but the information about the ATV didn’t pan out.
 

Capt. Charles Borchers, seated at left, Crime Prevention Director for the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, goes over information with some of the residents in the Jumonville Plantation subdivion in Meraux, which has re-organized its Neighborhood Watch program for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. Also shown below, Kim Cavalier, president of the Jumonville Homeowners Association, who invited neighbors to speak with Borchers. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTOS.

May 25, 2010 - When residents of the Jumonville Plantation subdivision in Meraux re-organized their Neighborhood Watch program recently, Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Director Capt. Charles Borchers related a true story to them illustrating no one knows an area like the people who live there.

Borchers, meeting with a number of residents on Aramis Drive in Jumonville as they re-formed Neighborhood Watch for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, said anyone should call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 if they see something that just doesn’t look right to them. Call 278-7628 to form a Neighborhood Watch group.

“You know your neighborhood. If something seems wrong it probably is,’’ Borchers said.

He told the story of a St. Bernard Parish man who in 2009 noticed a pickup truck, pulling a trailer with lawn equipment on it, park at an abandoned house down the street from his residence. One person got out and began cutting a small patch of grass on the front lawn and the other man went behind the abandoned house.

But the resident soon noticed the guy kept cutting the same patch of grass over and over for some time and decided what he saw didn’t add up. He called the Sheriff’s Office to report it.

When deputies arrived, Borchers said, it turned out the grass-cutter was the lookout man for his partner “who was cutting copper inside the house’’ that they intended to steal and sell as scrap.

“From a (sheriff’s) patrol perspective deputies could have passed that house and nothing would have seemed wrong,’’ Borchers said. “But the neighbor who made the time to watch what was happening realized something was wrong and he stopped them in the act of a crime.’’

And Borchers told the Jumonville group they know what looks odd in their neighborhood and added that if if they call the Sheriff’s Office they should try to get as much information as possible while watching from a safe distance.

“What does the guy or guys look like?’’ Borchers said. “What are they wearing? Are they on foot, driving a vehicle or what? Describe the vehicle.’’ Such detail, he said, will make it easier for deputies to find and question suspects if they leave the area.

Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said that because police can’t be everyone at once, “citizen involvement’’ is essential to combat crime. “We don’t have as many residents in St. Bernard as we did before the hurricane. Its important that people who live here act as eyes for the Sheriff’s Office and report suspicious activity,’’ Pohlmann said.

Kim Cavalier, head of the Jumonville Plantation Homeowners Association, invited neighbors to her home to organize the Neighborhood Watch group for the subdivision.

 “We worked so hard to get our neighborhood back up after Katrina and we want to keep it safe,’’ said Cavalier, who has lived there since before the storm.

More than 110 homes are now occupied, nearly filling the Jumonville subdivision, she said.

Kristi Cowen, secretary of the homeowners association, said, “Sometimes residents call us (association officials)’’ about suspicious-looking people in the area. “We always say call the police.

“Before the storm everyone knew everyone, Cowen said. “But we have had new people move in since. We need everyone to get familiar with one another again and know who’s supposed to be in their neighborhood.’’

Borchers also went over basic rules to follow to keep a neighborhood free of burglars, including:

- Keep a neighborhood looking like its residents care – for example pick up litter, don’t let junked out vehicles remain on streets. If you have a Neighborhood Watch group put up signs proclaiming it because criminal will notice and head for other places.

- Lighting is important at night – motions lights or sensors provide security.

- Don’t advertise to criminals what new purchases you have made by leaving out the boxes they came in for trash pickup; cut them up and put them in the garbage.

- Don’t leave vehicles unlocked, which invites theft, and don’t leave garage door openers in plain sight, which allow thieves a way to get into your home from the garage.

May 21, 2010 - St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s investigators are seeking a man who, impersonating a police officer, stopped a woman motorist and inappropriately touched her Tuesday night, May 18, before letting her go, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Pohlmann said no arrest has been made but St. Bernard sheriff’s deputies have been stopping vehicles fitting the description of the one the unidentified man was driving and several people have been questioned. Anyone with information about the man posing as a police officer should call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

The suspect, driving a white sports utility vehicle with a blue emergency light in the windshield, pulled over a 35-year-old woman on East Judge Perez Drive in Meraux about 8:30 p.m., told her the license plate was expired on her car and ordered her to exit the vehicle, Pohlmann said. The man also had a side spotlight on the driver’s side window of the possibly Ford Expedition or Chevrolet Tahoe he drove.

After the motorist got out, the man told her to put her hands on top of her car, then he did a patdown search and in the process repeatedly touched her inappropriately, Pohlmann said.

After that, an unidentified woman stepped from the passenger side of the SUV and called the man “Sergeant,’’ then got back inside, according to the report the victim gave the Sheriff’s Office when she called to report the incident early the next morning, Wednesday, May 19, Pohlmann said.

When the woman passenger called out, the man impersonating a police officer afterward pushed the victim’s head into the side of her vehicle, bruising her forehead, and told her, “Don’t let me catch you out here again. This is your warning.’’

Pohlmann said the victim turned and noticed he had short brown hair, parted to the left side, was wearing possibly gray cargo-type pants, with a black T-shirt with the word Sheriff written on the back. He also wore a name tag on the shirt that said, “Troxclair.’’

The man drove away with the passenger and the victim, who didn’t see any identifying markings on the white SUV, went home and decided to report the incident, Pohlmann said.

Other law enforcement agencies in the area were contacted by St. Bernard and said they didn’t conduct any traffic stops in the parish that night, Pohlmann said.

Photograph shows nearly a pound of marijuana, an AK-47 assault rifle with bayonet attached, a handgun, scales and ammunition found during the May 20 arrest of a Chalmette couple at their residence. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO

May 20, 2010 - Several drug cases were made by St. Bernard Parish authorities over a short period, including a couple arrested with nearly a pound of marijuana and an AK-47 assault rifle in their residence and a woman booked with 10 grams of crack cocaine after a traffic stop, Sheriff Jack Stephen s said.

Also, four marijuana plants were found being cultivated at a residence and one man was arrested and another man was booked with possession of 43 pill of the prescription anxiety medicine Xanax, the sheriff said. All the arrests were made by agents of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division commanded by Col. Chad Clark.

Dwight Walker, 29, and Brittney Butler, 24, both of 3708 LaPlace Drive, Chalmette, were arrested May 20 after just under a pound of marijuana, in several packages, the AK-47 automatic weapon and a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun were found in their residence, along with ammunition for both guns and several scales used for weighing the marijuana, the sheriff said. The AK-47 had a bayonet attached.

Both were booked with possession with intent to distribute the marijuana and possession of the firearms while in possession of a controlled substance.

Walker has a previous arrest involving drugs and a firearm but there wasn’t any information available on the disposition of the case.

Agents had information Walker had been selling marijuana in the parish, the sheriff said, and had been watching his residence. On May 20, agents knocked on the door and said they were investigating a narcotics complaint.

When Butler answered and let them inside, officers saw marijuana on a table, which gave them probable cause to detain the couple and seek a search warrant from a judge, and the other items were found in the search, the sheriff said.

The couple was jailed and were awaiting bond to be set.

In the crack cocaine arrest, also made May 20, Rosalind Leflore, 37, 411 E. Liberaux St., Chalmette, was stopped for a traffic offense and further investigation led to 10 grams of crack found hidden on her.

She was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison.

Robert Gulino, 46, 144 Hernandez St., Arabi, was booked in early May with cultivation of four marijuana plants worth an estimated value of $2,000 each and possession of more than an ounce of marijuana after the Sheriff’s Office received information about the growing plants, the sheriff said.

Plants were found near the front of his residence and when officers came in contact with Gulino he acknowledged what they were and allowed a search inside, where other plants were found, as well as a bag of marijuana, the sheriff said.

Gulino was booked into the jail but was later released on bond. The amount wasn’t available.

Also, Bertrand Cassou, 30, 29 Packenham Ave., Chalmette, was booked May 14 with possession of 43 pills of Xanax found in a pharmacy bottle labeled under a different drug.

Officers went to his residence on a complaint of drug activity there and he allowed a search which revealed the Xanax pills, the sheriff said. He was jailed but has been released on bond. The amount wasn’t available.

Sheriff Stephens hosts meeting with law enforcement officials to discuss a credentials system to prevent criminals from invading oil spill parishes

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens, standing at left, discusses a credentials system for those seeking to enter oil spill-affected areas of the state.

May 18, 2010 - In an effort to prevent criminals from invading parishes in the guise of helping in the oil spill clean-up effort, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack A. Stephens hosted a meeting of other law enforcement agencies on Tuesday, May 18, to discus methods to require credentials for employees of sub-contractors of BP or others seeking to enter certain restricted areas.

“Our mission is to make sure a criminal element doesn’t interfere with the actual clean-up,’’ Sheriff Stephens said. The sheriff recently said, “We don’t want any dirt bags coming here’’ trying to take advantage in terms of crime.

The issue of the credential system will be taken up at a state Sheriff's Association meeting in Baton Rouge, the sheriff said.

Sheriff Stephens explained that was is being considered “would be a standardized credential system’’ that could be used by any law enforcement agency to determine who is a legitimate worker or needs to be in certain areas, Sheriff Stephens told a meeting attended by numerous coastal parish sheriff’s or their representatives, as well as State Police, state Wildlife and Fisheries Department personnel, the attorney general’s office and representatives of BP.

A significant public safety problem could be created by the oil spill because of the numbers of personnel being brought in as contractors by BP as well as volunteers to the area and a system to manage this inflow is needed, the sheriff said.

Such a system, that would require finger-printing, a photo and a background check for each person BP would send into a spill-affected area, could also be used for broader applications such as re-entry into an area after any disaster such as a hurricane, tornado or industrial incident, Sheriff Stephens said. It would also immediately separate scam artists from legitimate contractor after a disaster.

“It would be done at no cost to local governments’’ because the private sector, in this case BP, would be expected to pay for the registering of personnel they want to send into an affected area and be responsible for the needed information for credentialing, Stephens said.

After the meeting, Stephens said, “There was a consensus that we need a uniform system to handle checkpoints’’ involving entrances to spill-impacted areas, Sheriff Stephens said.

Without a credentialing system there wouldn’t be a common system of keeping track of who is entering an area, who has the responsibility for their actions and what their purpose is in entering the area, the sheriff said.

Stephens also said his deputies will continue to man check points at the affected spill areas in Hopedale, Shell Beach and Delacroix Island.

What’s known as the Pegasus ER-ITN program, set up several years ago by the National Sheriff’s Association for creating an identification system, would be the model for what would be done in Southeast Louisiana, Stephens and Sheriff Craig Weber of Lafourche Parish told the group.

It was explained that Pegasus is designed to provide a tool for the private sector to vouch for and assume responsibility for essential personnel entering a restricted area and for law enforcement officers operating checkpoints at the entrance of those areas.

Attendees at the meeting held in Chalmette included Sheriff Marlin Gusman of Orleans Parish, Sheriff Jiff Hingle of Plaquemines Parish, and representatives from sheriff’s offices including St. Tammany, St. John, Terrebonne, Cameron and Calcasieu, as well as State Police and other agencies.

May 14, 2010 - What started as a tip about a missing all-terrain vehicle in St. Bernard Parish on Friday, May 14, led to the discovery of a trove of stolen property worth up to$100,000, including a triple-axle dump truck, two front-end loaders and many other items off a street in a wooded area near the Violet Canal, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

No arrests were made but an investigation will continue, said Pohlmann. “This is quite a bit of stolen property to find in one place,’’ and it seemed to be an area for chopping up stolen vehicles and storing property until there was a buyer, Pohlmann said.

What wasn’t found: the missing all-terrain vehicle that first led deputies to look in the area.

Sheriff’s detectives, commanded by Col. John Doran, and patrol deputies handled the investigation.

The items were found along one side of Canal Street, a cross street off East St. Bernard Highway, which backs up to a wooded area about a block east of the Violet Canal and also intersects First Street. Residents on the other side of Canal Street said they knew nothing of who was using the area as a storage place for stolen property.

A recovered trailer containing a front-end loader and a 300-gallon fuel tank, were all reported stolen on Friday morning, May 14, from a construction site at St. Bernard Middle School, Pohlmann said.

There were also other vehicles. Found were a triple-axle 2004 Kenilworth dump truck reported stolen in Kenner in 2009 and sporting a new paint job; and a 2006 Dodge Magnum station wagon reported stolen in New Orleans in 2009 that was missing engine parts and had many body parts taken off and left on a trailer believed to be stolen. There was also a second front-end loader that was found in the wooded area, along with a trailer.

The stolen items were impounded by the Sheriff’s Office.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens answers questions from a podium at a press briefing at Hopedale on Thursday, May 13. From left are Louisiana Attorney General James “Buddy’’ Caldwell, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro Jr., Council member Fred Everhart who represents the affected oil spill area, and behind the sheriff is Council member-at-Large Wayne Landry. Also, (below right) Sheriff Stephens and Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann talk at Hopedale. STEVE CANNIZARO

They said plans are developing to keep away sub-contractor employees with criminal records and scam artists who follow a disaster from reaching coastal communities affected by the oil disaster.
"Anytime there's a lot of money being handed out quickly, they're going to be there and that's unfortunately what we're seeing," Caldwell said at a news briefing held with Stephens and officials of St. Bernard Parish government at Hopedale in the eastern part of the parish.

 Sheriff Stephens was blunt: “We don’t want any dirt bags coming here. We just can’t let criminals come here and take advantage of us.’’

The sheriff also said, "My fear is that this is an event that is not going to be cleaned up next week, but it may take years.’’
Stephens said he, other sheriffs and other law enforcement officials from coastal parishes plan to meet soon to discuss a plan for requiring credentials of transient workers to prevent those with criminal backgrounds such as sex offenders and drug-dealers from working as employees of sub-contractors of BP in the oil spill clean-up effort, as well as separate scam artists from legitimate contractors.

BP would be responsible for requiring background checks, finger-printing and photographing principal employees in sub-contracting positions, Sheriff Stephens said.

Stephens also said that so far there haven’t been any oil spill response  - related arrests, but said the Sheriff’s Office has set up check points in the eastern part of the parish to make sure scammers aren’t allowed to cover St. Bernard.  A number of arrests, including one involving about an ounce of marijuana and another of a woman wanted on a sex offender violation in Arkansas, have been made.

"We want people to know we're going to continue to have those insurance checkpoints and those other elements and strategies that we have at our disposal to take an inventory of what's coming and going," said Sheriff Stephens.

Caldwell met with a number of officials from St. Bernard besides the sheriff, including President Craig Taffaro Jr., Council members Fred Everhardt Jr. who represents the affected area; Council member-at-Large Wayne Landry, and Council members Mike Ginart Jr., Kenneth Henderson and George Cavignac, along with Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann.

Caldwell said developing plans in advance is important "to make sure no criminal fraud is committed, (to stop) people who are coming into an area who may be sex offenders - registered sex offenders - we want to go back to basics, we want to go to pictures, fingerprints.’’

The Attorney General is asking BP to work with local sheriff's to make sure that people who get disaster assistance checks are who they say they are.
As examples of fraud, authorities said, there were people from other states, as far north such as Arkansas or Missouri that were claiming to be commercial fishermen ,filing out application for immediate disaster relief and getting $5,000 checks from BP.

But the sheriff and Caldwell said BP won’t be issuing any more checks on claims without proof people have valid commercial fishing backgrounds, including ownership of vessels, licenses and banking information, as well as identity proof.

The attorney general said sheriffs will have a criminal database at their disposal.

"We have a system called Pegasus that the local sheriffs are familiar with and that we use to help locate legitimate people and stop sex offenders and people running in here and claiming that their fishermen, now," said Caldwell.

Caldwell added that people need to be cautious of job opportunities that require an "up-front" fee and individuals posing as government officials who require a processing fee to provide government services.

He encouraged anyone to report fraud to the AG's toll-free, consumer hotline at 1-800-351-4889.

To file a consumer complaint with the Louisiana Attorney General, call 800-351-4889.

Additionally Caldwell's office issued the following information about common disaster-related scams to help citizens protect themselves and fraud prevention tips.
Charity Scams: Following a disaster, scam artists solicit donations for fake or existing charities and pocket the money. Before you give, ask three questions:

• How will your contribution be spent?

• What portion of your contribution goes to salaries and administrative costs?

• If you are solicited by telephone, ask if the caller works for a professional fund-raiser. Many state laws require this disclosure.

Job Scams: Most disaster-related job scams involve advertising job opportunities, such as floor clean up or other labor, and require a payment in advance. But they don't produce a job. Job listings from 800 and 900 numbers are of special concern. Classified ads telling you to call a 900-phone number for a job referral are an expensive way for someone to read you classified ad listings.
Damage Certification: Be cautious of companies offering to certify your damage for a fee.

Insurance settlement scams: Make sure you are dealing with authorized claims representatives and not a scam artist trying to steal your personal information.

Price Gouging: Price gouging is when a seller prices merchandise much higher than is reasonable or fair. Price gouging statutes prohibit the raising of prices above the pre-emergency levels unless there is a national or regional market commodity shortage. This means that gasoline, petroleum products, hotels, motels, and retailers are prohibited from raising prices during this state of emergency unless they incur a spike in the price of doing business.

Advance Fee Loan Scams: These scams typically require that consumers or businesses pay some type of fee up front to process the loan. The promised loan never materializes. A variation on this scam offers credit cards. But after you send in your money, all you get is a list of banks to contact yourself.

Fraud Prevention Tips:

• Be wary of anyone who asks for payment up-front.

• Someone who "guarantees" a product or service may not be available to fulfill that promise.

• Check out any business that does not have an address but only offers a cell phone number for contact information.

• Ask to see a business license.

• Never give your personal information to anyone who telephones and asks for bank accounts, social security numbers or any other identifying information.

• Check out all requests for charitable donations at the Better Business Bureau website, www.bbb.org.

May 8, 2010 - An 89-year-old Meraux man was killed in a two-vehicle crash near his home on Saturday, May 8, while trying to turn left onto East St. Bernard Highway from a cross street, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Paul Schenck, 7509 Birch St., was pronounced dead of multiple injuries at University Hospital in New Orleans just before noon, Pohlmann said. He said the driver of the other vehicle, James Bergeron Jr., 58, and his wife, Bonnie Bergeron, 46, both of the Violet area, were injured and were taken to Tulane Medical Center with moderate but non life-threatening injuries.

The accident happened about 10:45 a.m. as Schenck, driving a Toyota Corolla, attempted to turn left from Landry Court in Meraux onto East St. Bernard Highway to go east and crossed the path of Bergeron’s vehicle, being driven west on the highway. The victim was struck on the driver’s side and he had to be extricated from his car.

Driver impairment isn’t suspected in the accident, Pohlmann said, but by law toxicology tests are administered following fatality accidents.

Richard Ford, 50

Richard Ford, 50, who has served time in prison for burglary and was arrested in April 2009 for carjacking a Domino’s pizza delivery vehicle in Chalmette, was serving a 4-year sentence with the state Corrections Department and was assigned to a work-release program in which he was doing mechanic work at a car center in Houma, Pohlmann said.

Ford had been sentenced last year after pleading guilty to a lesser charge in the carjacking case but there wasn’t any information available on the exact charge he pleaded to. He had been released from jail in St. Bernard Parish only three days earlier after serving a year on a burglary sentence.

Ford stole a 2005 Lincoln car at work on Friday, May 7, and law enforcement agencies were alerted to be on the lookout for the vehicle, Pohlmann said.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. Billy Parks spotted the car in Chalmette, with Ford driving, just before 3 p.m. on May 7 and stopped him in the 2000 block of Rosetta Drive.

Ford was booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison, charged with escape, auto theft, possession of the stolen vehicle, being a felon in illegal possession of a firearm - a .25-cal. semiautomatic found in the vehicle -  and with having an open can of beer in the car. It wasn’t clear where the gun came from.

After his arrest, Ford said he returned to Chalmette to see his mother for the Mother’s Day weekend.

Eric Wilson, 49

May 6, 2010 - St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives have arrested a man wanted in New Orleans for armed robbery, aggravated rape and other charges in connection with an incident allegedly involving a woman from an escort service, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Eric Wilson, 49, who had been staying with a relative in Chalmette, was arrested Wednesday, May 5, after the Sheriff’s Office received information on his whereabouts after his photo ran in a newspaper which said Wilson was wanted by New Orleans police.

Arrest warrants were issued in New Orleans on April 10, alleging Wilson committed armed robbery, aggravated rape and false imprisonment of a woman, Pohlmann said. The incident allegedly involved a woman from an escort service. He also was wanted on a 2009 warrant from Ascension Parish alleging theft.

Wilson was taken to St. Bernard Parish Prison but was later picked up by New Orleans police.

May 6, 2010 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office has arrested a third parish resident as a suspect in a Slidell pharmacy shootout and attempted robbery on Saturday, May 1, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Charles “Doody’’ Roy, 21, 2505 Meraux Lane, Violet, was arrested Wednesday night, May 5, by the Sheriff's Office and has been transported to Slidell, accused of driving two other St. Bernard men to the pharmacy, both of whom have also been arrested in the shootout and robbery attempt, Pohlmann said.

Jacob R. Lagman, 24, of Chalmette, was arrested May 1, found hiding in a backyard after the shooting and robbery attempt at Family Drug Mart at 140 Gause Blvd in Slidell. Keyshawn M. Hill, 29, of Violet, was arrested Monday night, May 3, at his home by St. Bernard sheriff’s detectives and Slidell police.

As Lagman and Hill entered, one of them pulled a scarf over his face - rousing the suspicions of the store's security guard - who drew his gun and pointed it at the men, who quickly ran out of the store, Slidell police said.

Hill fired two shots at the guard as he left and the guard returned fire, getting off three rounds but missing the suspects.

No one was injured in the gunfire.

Lagman and Hill were both booked with attempted first-degree murder of the security guard, attempted armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery with a firearm.

Roy was booked with principal to attempted armed robbery and principal to attempted first degree murder.

Detectives in Slidell and St. Bernard Parish are still investigating whether a fourth person was involved in the incident. The arrested men are also suspects in the armed robbery of the Shell gas station in Slidell on April 27, Slidell police said.

See original story
 

May 5, 2010 - The owner of a pitbull that severely bit a 5-year-old Arabi boy in the face on April 29, requiring 32 stitches, was booked May 4 with negligent injury to the child and obstruction of justice for initially hiding the animal from authorities, St. Bernard Parish Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Rosalie Aguilar, 47, who lives in the 2200 block of Mehle Avenue in Arabi, was arrested after a review of the case by detectives in the Juvenile Division of the Sheriff’s Office, Pohlmann said.

Aguilar was released on Wednesday, May 5, after her bond was set at $3,000. Aguilar, who said the animal had never hurt anyone before, was cited by parish animal control officers the night of the incident for allowing the 7-month-old male pit bull to run free outside.

The victim, whose name wasn’t released by the sheriff’s Office, is a neighbor of Aguilar’s family.
Pohlmann said the child, who received a deep laceration on the left cheek requiring 32 stitches and three puncture wounds to the face, was attacked when the 5-year-old boy went outside to play with his Godfather about 6:30 p.m. on April 29.

Aguilar’s children were playing on the slab of a razed house next to the victim’s house and the pit bull was running around, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The victim walked onto his family’s driveway and the dog attacked the child, biting him on the face. The boy’s Godfather punched the dog to get him off the boy but he was badly bitten, the police report said.

Initially, Aguilar told sheriff’s deputies and parish animal control officers she didn’t know the whereabouts of the dog after the incident, sheriff’s officials said.

But on April 30, when informed that without the dog to have quarantined the victim would face receiving shots to prevent rabies, Aguilar cooperated and authorities were told where the dog was being kept. The animal was picked up and quarantined at the parish animal shelter.

Beth Brewster, director of parish animal control, said on April 30 the owner had signed the dog over to the parish and because the animal would be deemed vicious and non-adoptable because of the unprovoked attack, he would be held 10 days and then euthanized.

See original story

May 4, 2010 - St. Bernard sheriff’s detectives assisted in the arrest of one of two parish residents involved in a Slidell pharmacy shootout on Saturday, May 1, in which five shots were exchanged with a security guard inside the drug store during an attempted robbery, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Keyshawn Hill, 29, 2800 Angelique Drive, Violet, was arrested without incident at his home about 9:30 p.m. on Monday, May 3, in a joint effort between St. Bernard sheriff’s detectives and officers of the Slidell Police Department. A search warrant was conducted at Hill’s residence and evidence was located that implicates him in the robbery, authorities said. The gun from the robbery hasn’t been recovered.

Hill has been picked up by Slidell officers after spending the night jailed in St. Bernard, Pohlmann said.

Jacob R. Lagman, 24, 3004 Charles Drive, Chalmette, was arrested after the failed armed robbery about 10:45 a.m. on May 1 at the Family Drug Mart located at 140 Gause Blvd. in Slidell. He was found hiding in a backyard of a nearby residence after the robbers fled the store following the shootout, in which no one was injured.

Both men are being booked with attempted first-degree murder of the security guard, attempted armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery with a firearm.

Lagman also was booked with resisting an officer and battery on police.

Slidell Police said that as the first of two suspects entered the store one pulled a light-colored scarf over his face, at which time the security guard realized the two were attempting to rob the store.

The guard then pulled out his firearm and pointed it at the two suspects. Police said as the first suspect saw the guard he began to retreat from the store, running into the second suspect, who was carrying a black semi-automatic handgun.

When the two exited the store the suspect with the firearm fired two shots, one into the floor and the other in the direction of the guard, who returned fire, discharging three rounds at the suspect. All five rounds fired by the would-be robbers and the guard stayed within the store and no one was injured. There were two customers in the store at the time of the robbery attempt, none of whom were injured.

After the suspects exited the store they were seen running but while officers were setting up a perimeter they were approached by a witness who advised there was a man hiding in a back yard on Ninth Street. Officers immediately responded to the address and found Lagman, who resisted arrest but was soon handcuffed.

Further investigation led to Hill.