Jan 29, 2009 - St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies have seized 156 pills of the narcotic painkiller Oxycodone, which were being sold for $20 each -  making the street value a total of $3,120 - and two Chalmette men were arrested, one who was allegedly selling pills out of his home and the other who was caught leaving after buying six pills, Sheriff Jack Stephens said. A third man, who also lived at the house, was booked with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia found in the residence.

Robert Francois, 48, 20 Old Hickory Ave., was booked Jan. 23 with possession with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances after sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant and found 150 pills of Oxycodone.  Francois was also booked with distribution of six pills of Oxycodone seized in a vehicle after a man left Francois’ home after buying them, authorities said. Francois was also booked with possession of two pills of Lorcet, a separate narcotic painkiller worth about $5 a tablet, found in the home during the search,.

Francois is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $40,000 bond.

Tony Hampton, 51, who also lived at the same address with Francois, was booked with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia found in he home. Hampton remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bond. The third arrested man, Ludie Cochrane, 30, 3425 Dauterive Drive, was booked with possession of six Oxycodine found when he was stopped in a vehicle that had left Francois’ home.

Cochrane was released from jail on a $10,000 bond.

Deputies had information that Francois was allegedly selling pills and had obtained a search warrant for his residence when a vehicle in which Cochrane was a passenger was seen arriving and leaving. Six pills were found on the floor of the vehicle when the driver was stopped and Cochrane acknowledged he had just bought them. The driver wasn’t arrested.

Sheriff Stephens said that under the new prescription drug monitoring program that just became operational in Louisiana, which he and others sheriff’s officials strongly pushed for, deputies can now obtain a court order in cases like Francois’ to try to review a person’s medical profile from a new database to see about prescriptions they have received for controlled substances.

Jan 27, 2009 - Driven by the fact St. Bernard Parish residents had died in recent years from abusing prescription narcotic pills, Sheriff Jack Stephens and other sheriff’s officials helped lead the fight to get a state-wide prescription drug monitoring program started.

The idea was to start a data base that could check the disbursement of narcotic pills and make it harder for someone to obtain the same prescriptions from multiple physicians – a practice known as doctor-shopping - who wouldn’t otherwise know a patient was receiving them from other sources.

Especially before the hurricane, when there were more doctors in the New Orleans area to visit, there had been numerous deaths of people who didn’t hold a prescription but had pills because of easy ...(Click Here to Read the Rest of the Article)

Jan 26, 2009 - Hundreds of St. Bernard Parish residents are alumni of the Citizens Police Academy, which was started in the early 2000s and had started it’s largest-ever class at the time the hurricane struck in 2005. Now, on March 4 - for the first time since the storm - the free Citizens Police Academy which is designed to open lines of communications between residents and the Sheriff’s Office will start a new class and residents can start signing up, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

New in this year’s course are boating safety tips, hands-on use of equipment including a firearms simulator that has citizens decide whether they would use a weapon in certain situations, as well as a SWAT Team equipment demonstration, said Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Director Charles Borchers, who coordinates the academy course load.

The classes, which also include a review of operations of the sheriff’s Narcotics, Detective, Juvenile, Street Crimes, Marine, Patrol and Traffic divisions, are likely to be attractive to both new enrollees and those who years ago went through the 9-week course that this year will meet each Wednesday through April 22 at Nunez Community College, said Borchers. Graduation night is April 29.

St. Bernard Parish Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said, “The objective isn’t to train people to be reserve police officers but to produce informed residents.’’ “It’s great for learning about the inner workings of the Sheriff’s Office and court system,’’ said Pohlmann. “It’s intended to open lines of communications and create better relations between police and residents, in a situation where they can meet face-to-face in a friendly setting. You won’t just see the uniform you will see the person behind the badge

St. Bernard residents who want to register have several methods. They can call Borchers at (504) 278-7628 or fill out an application  on the sheriff’s website at www.sbso.org and email it to him at the e-mail address in the application or print one out and fax it to (504) 278-7766 or mail it to the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Division at P.O. Box 168, Chalmette, La., 70044.

Borchers, who heads the Neighborhood Watch program as part of his duties as Crime Prevention officer, said the Citizens Police Academy is another way to expand the Sheriff’s Office’s community-based efforts. The dividend it pays, Borchers said, is crime prevention improves when residents feel they have a good relationship with police and know they can report suspicious activity they see to the Sheriff’s Office and an officer will come to investigate. As evidenced by the numerous shows about law enforcement on television over the years, the role of police and the courts has always been of interest to the average resident of a community, Borchers said.

Citizens Police Academy addresses that interest people have in how officers do their work and what happens as criminal cases go to court, he said. “For instance, to a citizen it may appear the police are exceeding their boundaries at times but by allowing people a firsthand look at what rules, regulations and policies the police must follow, some misunderstanding may be alleviated,’’ Borchers said. There are always question-and-answer periods between enrollees and officers, he said. “I’ve gotten several people signed up who responded to an announcement last year that we were going to have Citizens Police Academy again,’’ said Borchers, who said he hopes to have 35-40 students. “We would like people to be able to attend all the classes if possible.’’

ALERT * ALERT * ALERT

Jan 20, 2009 - St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s officials are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man they believe twice robbed the same Chalmette gasoline station: on Sunday, Jan. 18 and on Sunday, Dec. 21, in both cases wearing a white dust-proof mask like the kind often used in gutting homes after the hurricane, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

A gasoline station at Judge Perez Drive and Paris Road was robbed both times and in both cases the man, described being in his 30s or 40s, with a stocky build, fled on foot, running north on Paris Road and escaping on side streets, each time in the afternoon, the sheriff said. It isn’t know if he got into a vehicle.

Sheriff’s detectives believe it may be the same man both times, particularly because of the similar physical appearance the use of the white dust-proof mask, Sheriff Stephens said.

In the first instance he wore a brownish knit hat and in the second he wore a knit hat descried as more reddish. In the most recent case he wore a green flannel shirt, authorities said.

The man allegedly showed a weapon in the first robbery and implied he had a weapon the second time, Sheriff Stephens said.

No one was injured in either robbery.

Anyone with information should call the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271- 2501 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111, where they  may be eligible for a reward.

Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division gets 1st Kiwanis Club Life-Saving Award since hurricane for dismantling narcotics group in “Operation Driftwood,” with 30 arrests in 3-year case

Jan 18, 2009 - After the hurricane, when the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division was conducting what would be called Operation Driftwood and arrest some 30 members of a group distributing multiple pounds of various drugs, it was clear the dealers thought they could take advantage of the storm’s destruction, sheriff’s officials said.
 
“These animals thought we were down and out and that we didn’t have the resources to stop them and so they decided to set up shop,’’ said Col. Chad Clark, head of SID, which includes the Narcotics Division and Street Crimes Division. “And what really motivated us was when there were drug overdose deaths in St. Bernard Parish and one of their group said ‘People are like sheep. They can be replaced.’’

Now, with the leaders of the group, Maxwell Landry and Jason Broom, serving prison sentences and more than 30 others indicted, the Sheriff’s Office is being recognized for its work.

The Kiwanis Club of St. Bernard-Arabi, restarting its Life-Saving Award for the first timer since the hurricane, has given the first one to the men and women of the sheriff’s SID for dismantling the narcotics group in “Operation Driftwood” and saving untold lives of those who might have died from the drugs that were taken off th streets.

The group was recognized in ceremonies held Tuesday, Jan. 13 with a luncheon at Rocky & Carlo’s Restaurant in Chalmette.

Sheriff Jack Stephens and Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said the department is honored to receive the recognition from the Kiwanis Club, whose President is state Judge Robert Buckley, with businessman Sam Catalanotto as chairman of the Life-Saving Award committee.

The award was suggested by Catalanotto several years before the storm as a means to honor sheriff’s deputies and parish firefighters for their work, he said. He said the award wasn’t given since the storm but all concerned felt it was the right time to restart the program.

“We wanted to see positive recognition of the good things the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department do,’’ Catalanotto said. “We realize they do heroic deeds each day. We wanted to say ‘Thank you.’’’

Referring to the major drug investigation by SID, Catalanotto said, “We are positive an unknown number of lives were saved by these officers.’’

Clark praised the men and women of SID at the luncheon, saying in the three years of the investigation “At no time has anyone backed up when called upon, whether day or night, weekend or holiday. There were several occasions where agents slept in this units rather than leaving their duty and this work integrity is still being displayed.’’

Retired Col. Forrest Bethay, who headed SID for years thanked both the office of St. Bernard District Attorney Jack Rowley and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the effort they put into the case, resulting in many lengthy prison years for the defendants. “The magnitude of this investigation was unbelievable,’’ Bethay said, referring, for example, to the work involved in securing wiretaps of suspects’ phones.

A plaque was given to SID and certificates of recognition and a gift dinner was given to these officers:

Col. Chad Clark, Col. Forrest Bethay, Col. Pete Tufaro, Maj. Ronnie Martin, Capt. Clifford “Chip’’ Englande, Capt. Richard Jackson, Capt. Pat Childress, Lt. Bob Roger, Lt. Chris Cousins, Sgt. Joey Alfonso, Sgt. David Hebert, Cpl. Jessica Tarver, Sgt Mike Hermman, Cpl. Leander Morgan, Cpl. Johnell Young, Cpl. Brandon Licciardi.

Operation Driftwood focused on the large drug-trafficking network headed by Maxwell Landry and Jason Broom, responsible for distributing kilos, or 2.2 pounds at a time of marijuana, cocaine and crystal meth.

The investigation began in 2005 by the Special Investigations division of the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office and later in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and is still ongoing.

Multiple pounds of drugs were seized, along with $400,000 in cash, several vehicles and real estate.

Because the organization crossed state lines and was being operated in multi-jurisdictions it fell under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force guidelines and was funded by the Department of Justice and organized by the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans.

Landry is now serving a federal 3-year sentence and still awaits state charges, while Broom just pleaded guilty in state court in St. Bernard in December and was given 25 years in prison. So far, sentences totaling more than 100 years in prison have been meted out.

Operation Driftwood operated in a highly sophisticated manner, using compartmentalized, family-oriented distribution cells which included cell heads, lieutenants, distributors and facilitators with ties to two organizations out of New York and California, both of which are still being investigated today. Cell heads received direction from Landry and Broom but the cells remained insular.

The drug task force investigation utilized three wiretap affidavits involving different cell phones in combination with search warrants, traffic stops, cooperating witnesses and man other investigative techniques to systematically disrupt and eventually dismantle the Landry and Broom organization.

Jan 18, 2009 - Three Chalmette boys, ages 15, 12 and 11, were arrested Friday, Jan. 16, in connection with two burglaries of the Vista Park concession stand in which more than $300 in items were stolen, Sheriff Jack Stephens said. Some of the stolen items, including beer, candy and other food were recovered in an abandoned house and some at the home of the 15-year-old.

The break-ins happened Jan. 8 and Jan. 12 and detectives with the sheriff’s Juvenile Division, commanded by Maj. Darlene Poche, received information that stolen items were being sold and some was being held. All three boys were booked into the St. Bernard Juvenile Detention Center, with the 11-year-old booked with burglary and the other two with possession of stolen property. Authorities said the 11-year-old had sold some items to the others and given other things to be sold by the 12-year-old.

The abandoned house where some items were recovered was in the area of Vista Park but none of the three suspects lived near the park.

	Louis Ceaser Jr

Jan 18, 2009 - A third man has been booked with the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old Lacombe girl whom one of them met on a telephone party line, then met up with and brought her to Chalmette, Sheriff Jack Stephens said. The girl claimed that as many as six men raped her in an apartment and an investigation is continuing.

Arrested Thursday, Jan. 15 was Louis Ceaser Jr., 35, 3405 Golden Drive, Apt. D, Chalmette, who is being held in St. Bernard Paish prison in lieu of $200,000 bond. The girl allegedly identified him. On Tuesday, Jan. 13 two Meraux men were arrested on aggravated rape charges, Cornell “Duke’’ Young, 31, 2320 Bartolo Drive, and Gabriel Nelson, 17, 2008 Walkers Lane. Nelson has been released on a $200,000 property bond and Youn is being held in jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond. Aggravated rape carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Detectives from the sheriff’s Juvenile Division, commanded by Maj. Darlene Poche, made the arrests and are working to identity others allegedly involved, the sheriff said. The girl, who was returned home to Lacombe after the incident early  Sunday, Jan. 11, said she met and had been talking to one of the men on a telephone party line and agreed for him to come get her at her home. The teen-ager allegedly left home without her mother’s knowledge and was picked up by both Nelson and Young who allegedly drove her to an apartment complex on Golden Drive in Chalmette where a friend of the men lived but who wasn’t home. Ceaser lived next door to the apartment where the alleged rapes happened, the sheriff said.

The teen-ager said the men had sex with her at the apartment, alleging one held her down. She also alleged other men came to the apartment and had sexual contact with her also. The sheriff said the girl was taken home Sunday and authorities were called.

Murder suspect Charles Richardson, center, of Violet is escorted into the St. Bernard Parish sheriff's detective bureau Thursday night, Jan. 15, by Lt. Raymond Theriot, left, and Maj. Robert McNab after they brought him back from Missouri to be prosecuted for the murder of his step-daughter and the wounding of his wife.  Steve Cannizaro  Photo.

Jan 16, 2009 - Murder suspect Charles Richardson of Violet was brought back to St. Bernard Parish from Missouri for prosecution on Thursday night, Jan. 15, but refused to discuss the killing of his step-daughter and wounding of his wife and is being held in lieu of bond of $1.5 million set on Jan. 16 by Judge Jacques Sanborn.
 
Richardson, 50, 2208 Highland St., was booked with first-degree murder of step-daughter India Mahoney, 18, and with the attempted murder of his wife, Elizabeth Richardson, 55, who adopted the teen-ager when Mahoney was just days old, before the woman married Charles Richardson, who raised the girl with his wife. Mrs. Richardson is in University Hospital in New Orleans, where she underwent surgery.

The suspect was escorted back to St. Bernard Parish when he waived an extradition fight in Missouri following his arrest on Tuesday, Jan. 13, the same day as the shootings in the Highland Street home. The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office had passed along information received that Richardson might be headed that way. Richardson refused to answer questions by sheriff’s detectives after his return, said Chief of Detectives Col. John Doran and he was taken to the Parish Prison in Chalmette.

Bond was set at $1.5 million when Richardson appeared before Judge Sanborn via video conferencing from the jail on Friday, Jan. 16. The suspect, who has kidney problems, has already begun receiving dialysis and will receive regular treatments, sheriff’s officials said.

Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said, “the case is strong’’ against Richardson because the wife is a witness, although the murder weapon wasn’t recovered. The truck will also be tested for blood evidence, Pohlmann said.

Mahoney, a senior at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans, was found dead at the scene inside the home, with a gunshot to the face. Mrs. Richardson was also shot to the face. There hasn’t been any indication over what led to the shootings. Inside the home authorities found materials related to the teen-ager going to college next fall, Pohlmann said, as well as papers involving a senior trip she was to take and had been partially paid for. The girl was the first homicide of the year in St. Bernard Parish, which had six people murdered in 2008, including two deaths in domestic-related cases.

The wounded woman, after calling the Sheriff’s Office, could barely speak and when found in her home had to write down her husband’s name as the assailant. Mrs. Richardson had obtained a protective order against her husband in state court in St. Bernard last fall when they separated but she later allowed him back into the home, authorities said.

Pohlmann said Charles Richardson, who has served time in prison and was arrested last in August 2008 on cocaine and weapons charges, “has an extensive rap sheet,’’ including a conviction for sexual battery and arrests related to armed robbery and drugs. In Richardson’s most recent arrest in August he allegedly become convinced someone was under his trailer home and went outside with a baseball bat and the Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene.

Richardson faced charges of cocaine possession and weapons charges after that incident.

Jan 15, 2009 - Murder suspect Charles Richardson of Violet, arrested in Missouri in the shooting death of his stepdaughter and wounding of his wife, waived an extradition fight on Thursday and is being returned to St. Bernard Parish for prosecution, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

Richardson, 50, was stopped on Interstate 55 late Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 13, after he fled after allegedly shooting to death his 18-year-old step-daughter and wounding his wife, the girl’s adoptive mother, during an early morning incident in their home at 2208 Highland St., Violet. Richardson, arrested by Missouri Highway Patrol officers after a chase and a crash as he drove a Dodge pickup truck south of Cape Girardeau, was being escorted back to St. Bernard by two sheriff’s detectives. St. Bernard sheriff’s officials had passed along information that Richardson might be heading through Missouri, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

He will be booked with first-degree murder in the death of India Mahoney, 18, and with the attempted murder of his wife, Elizabeth Richardson, 55, who adopted the teen-ager when Mahoney was just days old, before she married Charles Richardson, who raised her with his wife.

Mahoney, a senior at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans, was found dead at the scene inside the home, with a gunshot to the face. Mrs. Richardson, also shot to the face, is in University Hospital in New Orleans, where she underwent surgery. There hasn’t been any indication over what led to the shootings.

Two sheriff’s detectives from St. Bernard Parish went to Missouri on Wednesday to see about the process of extraditing Richardson back to St. Bernard. He waived an extradition fight on Thursday. Richardson, who has a lengthy arrest record and was separated from his wife for a period but she took him back last year because he suffered kidney problems, Pohlmann said.

Inside the home authorities found materials related to the teen-ager going to college next fall, Pohlmann said, as well as papers involving a senior trip she was to take and had been partially paid for. The teen-ager was the first homicide of the year in St. Bernard Parish, which had six people murdered in 2008, including two deaths in domestic-related cases.

The wounded woman, after calling the Sheriff’s Office, could barely speak and when found in her home had to write down her husband’s name as the assailant. Mrs. Richardson had obtained a protective order against her husband in state court in St. Bernard last fall when they separated but she later allowed him back into the home, authorities said.

Pohlmann said Charles Richardson, who has served time in prison and was arrested last in August 2008 on cocaine and weapons charges, “has an extensive rap sheet,’’ including a conviction for sexual battery and arrests related to armed robbery and drugs. In Richardson’s most recent arrest in August he allegedly become convinced that someone was under his trailer home and went outside with a baseball bat and the Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene.

Richardson faced charges of cocaine possession and weapons charges after that incident. 
 

	Gabriel Nelson		Cornell (Duke) Young

Jan 14, 2009 - Two Meraux men have been booked with the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old Lacombe girl whom one of them met on a telephone party line, then met up with her and brought her to Chalmette, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

The girl claimed that as many as six men raped her in an apartment and an investigation is continuing, the sheriff said.

Cornell “Duke’’ Young, 31, 2320 Bartolo Drive, and Gabriel Nelson, 17, 2008 Walkers Lane, both of Meraux, are being held in lieu in jail in of $200,000 bonds and have been booked with aggravated rape, which has a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Detectives from the sheriff’s Juvenile Division, commanded by Maj. Darlene Poche, made the arrests and are working to identity others allegedly involved, the sheriff said.

The girl, who was returned home to Lacombe after the incident early  Sunday, Jan. 11, said she met and has been talking to one of the men on a telephone party line and agreed for him to come get her at her home, the sheriff said.

The teen-ager allegedly left home without her mother’s knowledge and was picked up by both Nelson and Young who allegedly drove her to an apartment complex on Golden Drive in Chalmette where a friend of the men lived but who wasn’t home, Sheriff Stephens said.

She said the men had sex with her at the apartment, alleging one held her down, the sheriff said. She also alleged other men came to the apartment and had sexual contact with her also.

The sheriff said the girl was taken home Sunday.

Nelson admitted having sex with her but Young has denied the charge, Sheriff Stephens said.
 

Charles Richardson		India Mahoney

Sheriff’s Officials had received information on Richardson’s possible whereabouts and notified the Missouri Highway Patrol, who spotted the vehicle and made the arrest, Pohlmann said.

Two sheriff’s detectives from St. Bernard Parish were driving to Missouri on Wednesday to see about the process of extraditing Richardson back to St. Bernard to face charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Richardson is at the Cape Girardeau County Jail, where he is being held until detectives arrive. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is bringing additional charges, including felony resisting arrest.

Richardson allegedly shot both his wife, Elizabeth Richardson, 55, and her adopted daughter, India Mahoney, 18, in the face about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Mahoney, a senior at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans, was found dead at the scene, and Charles Richardson eluded police for hours before being apprehended late Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Richardson had surgery Wednesdsay morning and remains heavily sedated but her condition has improved, authorities said.

Richardson, who has a lengthy arrest record and was separated from his wife for a period before she took him back last year because he suffered kidney problems, allegedly killed a child he had helped raise after he married Elizabeth Richardson, whom the mother adopted when the girl was only days old, Pohlmann said. Inside the home where she was pronounced dead, authorities found materials related to her going to college next fall, Pohlmann said. There was also papers involving a senior trip she was to take and had been partially paid for, he said. The teen-ager was the first homicide of the year in St. Bernard Parish, which had six people murdered in 2008, including two deaths in domestic-related cases.

The wounded woman, after calling the Sheriff’s Office, could barely speak and when found in her home had to write down her husband’s name as the assailant. Mrs. Richardson had obtained a protective order against her husband in state court in St. Bernard last fall when they separated but she later allowed him back into the home, authorities said.

Pohlmann said Charles Richardson, who has served time in prison and was arrested last in August 2008 on cocaine and weapons charges, “has an extensive rap sheet,’’ including a conviction for sexual battery and arrests related to armed robbery and drugs. In Richardson’s was most recent arrest in August he allegedly become convinced that someone was under his trailer home and went outside with a baseball bat and the Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene. Richardson faced charges of cocaine possession and weapons charges after that incident. 

Besides the shooting of the teen-age girl and the mother, at least one other shot was fired in the domestic incident, with it apparently going through the front of the Richardson trailer home and striking a trailer home across the street, although no one was injured there, authorities said. Pohlmann said there is no definitive answer on what the argument in the home was about. 

Neighbors on Highland Street, an old area of Violet in eastern St. Bernard Parish, said the murder victim had gone to a church in recent weeks and asked the minister to have the congregation say prayers for her family.
 

Jan 12, 2009 - A group of 7th-grade students raised $1,300 in cash and gift cards that were donated during the holidays to the family of a St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputy who has been unable to work because of health problems.

Students at Lake Castle School in Madisonville donated the money and gift cards they raised and it was given to the sheriff’s deputy, who preferred not to be identified.

“It’s neat that the students would do this to help someone,’’ said Sheriff’s Maj. Adolph “Junior’’ Kreger, assistant warden of the Parish Prison and a relative of a teacher at the school.

“The family didn’t know this was coming,’’ said Kreger.”They were very surprised and grateful.’’

Teachers whose classes were involved in the donation were Susan Oberleitner, Andrea Elu and Jill Bayer.

	William Church, center, arrested in the Dec. 4 robbery of a Smoothie King store in Chalmette, is led out of his Arabi residence on Jan. 8 by St. Bernard Parish sheriff's detectives Paul Miller, left, and Richard Mendel. Steve Cannizaro Photo.

Jan 9, 2009 - An Arabi man was booked Thursday, Jan. 8 with the Dec. 4 armed robbery of a Smoothie King store in Chalmette in which an employee was knocked to the ground in a scuffle, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

William Church, 24, 626 Angela St., was arrested after a tip to Crimestoppers following a surveillance photo from the robbery being published in newspapers and run on television.  The tip was passed on to sheriff’s detectives in St. Bernard Parish, who arrested Church at his residence, finding during a search a New Orleans Saints logo cap believed worn during the robbery. A syringe for shooting drugs was also found and sheriff’s officials said Church acknowledged using heroin.

Lying on a couch in the front room was a copy of a St. Bernard Parish weekly newspaper open to the surveillance photo of the robber inside the Smoothie King Store on Paris Road the night of Dec. 4. Sheriff Stephens said Church, after his arrest, confessed to the robbery. Church is being held in St. Bernard Parish prison and no bond has been set.

The robber entered the store, placed an object to the back of an employee and scuffled with her, knocking her to the ground as another employee complied with a demand for cash.  The subject fled on foot. Sheriff’s detectives recovered a flashlight they believed the robber used as the weapon, when he implied he had a gun.

Jan 9, 2009 - St. Bernard Parish’s five judges of the 34th Judicial District Court were sworn in on Monday, Jan. 5 for new six-year terms, with some noting it will be the last time for all of them to hold such a ceremony together because one will reach the mandatory retirement age during this term and there could be other changes to alter the group make-up.

Judges Kirk Vaughn, Robert Buckley, Wayne Cresap, Jacques Sanborn and Manny Fernandez were all re-elected without opposition in 2008 and were sworn in for new terms in a ceremony in the Parish Courthouse in Chalmette, followed by a reception sponsored by the parish’s Bar Association

State District Judge Manny Fernandez, a former veteran state legislator and a district judge since 2001, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 during this term and won’t be able to run for re-election in 2014 but can serve out the full six years of this term.

No public announcement has been made but there could be an opening on the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal if Judge David Gorbaty of Chalmette decides to retire and not seek re-election to the court next year.  One or more of St. Bernard’s current district judges could seek the appeal court post if it is vacant.

Also, Judge Vaughn, the longest-tenured judge on the St. Bernard District Court, said there is a possibility that based on reviews of case loads for courts around the state St. Bernard could lose one of its district judgeships in the future, although such a move wouldn’t affect anyone on the court until their current term is up.

“Some of our judges won’t return again (for future terms on the court) because of age or advancement,’’ said Richard Tonry, president of the St. Bernard Bar Association, who presided over the swearing-in ceremony.

 “In no state do you find better or more conscientious judges than in St. Bernard Parish,’’ Tonry said. “ This is something that has been commented on by visiting attorneys again and again over the years.’’ Tonry later said, “The joy is that we (as attorneys) have shared their lives and they have shared ours in the administration of justice in St. Bernard Parish.’’

Jude Gorbaty swore in all of the five judges except Sanborn, who was sworn in by a friend, attorney Ray Pelleteri.

Fernandez said he won’t be seeking re-election again because of the mandatory retirement age but said he agrees with Tonry’s comments and is proud of the good jobs performed by St. Bernard judges.

Buckley, who will serve as chief judge of the court this year, as well as Cresap and Sanborn said they appreciate and are honored by the endorsement of their work shown by parish attorneys when no one opposed them for re-election. “I believe we are doing a good job and that was ratified by not having opposition,’’ Cresap said.

Vaughn said he was proud that St. Bernard Parish was “the first court system (affected by the hurricane) to come back on line and get operating again.’’ He added, “I can’t tell you how frustrated I was’’ by the problems involved in getting back open.

St. Bernard District Attorney John F. “Jack’’ Rowley, St. Bernard’s longest-serving elected official, and the parish’s justices of the peace and constables were sworn in separately from the judges.

Jan 9, 2009 - A New Year’s Day trailer home fire in Hopedale in eastern St. Bernard Parish killed one person and a pet dog  in the parish’s first fire fatality since the hurricane, St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone said.

Stone said the trailer at 7810 Hopedale Hwy., near the Breton Sound Marina, was engulfed in flames when the Fire Department arrived just after 2 a.m. The fire burned intently and spread rapidly, the fire chief said. Firefighters found the victim and a pet dog near the door of the trailer as they fought the blaze. St. Bernard Parish Coroner Dr. Bryan Bertucci pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Stone said investigators don’t have a positive identification of the victim, who was burned beyond recognition, although they know the name of the person who lived in the trailer and are trying to determine if it is the same man, who was 43 years old.  The name of the occupant hasn’t been released. “We believe (the victim) is the person who lived there,’’ but identification hasn’t been completed pending checks of dental records by the coroner.

The cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined, Stone said, but added that the trailer occupant was known as a “heavy smoker,” and may have fallen asleep with a lighted cigarette.  He also says it might have been sparked by a space heater, which firefighters found near the victim inside the trailer.

“You  need about three feet all around for a space heater to keep it away from combustible materials, and people forget (that), and pull the heaters right up next to the bed,” Stone said.

Oilfield workers who were on duty in their trailer reported the blaze to firefighters via a 911 call at about 2:15 a.m.  Stone said it took responders about 14 minutes to arrive at fire.

Stone said the response time was a little longer than usual because the nearest fire station at Yscloskey hasn’t been used since it was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina.