Jun 29, 2009 - On Wednesday, July 1, at about 10:30 a.m., lighting will strike a storage tank at a terminal at the Murphy Oil USA refinery in Meraux, causing an explosion and fire – but it will all be part of a coordinated drill to test emergency response plans.

Part of East St. Bernard Highway in front of the oil plant will be closed for about two hours and traffic will be re-routed by the Sheriff’s Office, which will also take part in the emergency drill along with Murphy crews, the parish Fire Department and the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness in what is called a unified command exercise.

The drill will test the plant’s procedures and processes for alert and notification, facility security, emergency response and crisis management, Murphy officials said. The exercise will include deployment of emergency response equipment and personnel.

Murphy officials said they apologize for any inconvenience the drill causes the public and thank residents for their patience.

Jun 28, 2009 - Alert action by a member of the sheriff’s Streets Crimes Unit who thought it suspicious two people in a business truck were unloading power tools and taking them into an Arabi pawn shop resulted in their arrests and recovery of a stolen vehicle and equipment after following the driver into New Orleans.

Nathaniel Jean Pierre III, 27, and Patricia Walker, 41, both of New Orleans were each booked Monday, June 22, with possession of a truck stolen from a business and possession of stolen property taken in a business burglary, Sheriff jack Stephens said.

Jean Pierre drove the vehicle into New Orleans as St. Bernard sheriff’s deputies followed him, then abandoned the vehicle and was arrested after a struggle on Choctaw Street in the Ninth Ward. Jean Pierre was also booked with battery on police, aggravated flight, resisting arrest and simple criminal damage, is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $50,000 bond. Walker, whom Jean Pierre left outside a St. Claude A venue pawn shop in Arabi when he fled in the stolen truck, is also being held in jail, in lieu of $40,000 bond. She was arrested while running away.

Cpl. Johnell Young of the Street Crimes Unit noticed the man and woman unloading power tools from a business truck and taking them into a pawn shop in Arabi near the Jackson Barracks National Guard base and thought it suspicious. He began running a check on the vehicle.  As Jean Pierre fled and left the woman, the officer learned from headquarters the truck was reported stolen out of New Orleans. Young and other members of the Street Crimes Unit followed Jean Pierre as he turned onto several streets in the Ninth Ward, nearly striking one vehicle before he abandoned the stolen truck on Andry Street and began running.  Jean Pierre was spotted by officers on Choctaw Street and was subdued after a struggle.

The owner of the truck later identified recovered equipment as stolen from his warehouse.

Jun 24, 2009 -  A St. Bernard Parish boy nearly two years old apparently drowned in a swimming pool at a home in Violet on Wednesday, June 24, after he got through a mesh-like security fence around the pool, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. Kentrell “Ray’’ Battle, of Meraux, who was 11 days shy of his second birthday, was pronounced dead at Tulane Medical Center where he was taken after he was found unconscious in the pool about 11:15 a.m. The incident happened at 6008 Ridgewood in the Oak Ridge subdivision in Violet, where the boy had been brought on a visit.

When sheriff’s deputies and firefighters arrived after a call for help, the boy was being administered CPR but wasn’t breathing, officials said. It wasn’t known how long he had been in the pool. Pohlmann said an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office is continuing but said it appears to be an accidental drowning. No charges have been filed.  “This is a tragic incident,’’ Pohlmann said.

Family members were at the Violet home and the child had apparently been brought there for a visit. There was a mesh-like security fence around the entire in-ground pool but the toddler, who reportedly gone outside the home with another young child, got through the fence and was found in the pool. Precautions notwithstanding, Pohlmann said, “nothing replaces an adult watching a child at all times’’ when they are near water.

It was the second child-drowning in St. Bernard Parish in the last two months. A young boy drowned at his home in Chalmette in late April.

ALERT * ALERT * ALERT

Jun 19, 2009 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to help identify an old-fashioned “con man,’’ who has been defrauding businesses in the Paris Road area in Chalmette and in Meraux, on and off since March. The unidentified man has walked away with money after cheating a store clerk out of change for a large amount such as a $50 bill and has also stolen money from a store clerk without her noticing, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. Anyone with information about the identity of the man is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501. The man involved is wanted for both simple robbery and theft.

In one case the man, described as being in his mid-40s to early 50s, cheated one store clerk out of $70 and stole $50 from another. He has been turned away at several stores in Chalmette but has also succeeded, Pohlmann said. A store surveillance tape at one business on Paris Road shows the man defrauding a store clerk in March. He put up a big bill to buy an inexpensive item, then when he is receiving his change, he tells the clerk he realizes he has a smaller bill and takes that out, continuing to move money around on the counter until the store clerk is confused and the “con man’’ leaves with both his money and the store’s.

A store surveillance video from May 18 at a store shows the same man starting to try the same trick but in this instance he is able to steal back the large bill he put down when the store clerk is distracted and also receives change for his large bill. In two store tapes the con man appears to be working with another man who helps distract the clerk at the register.

“This type of con man has been around for a long time and still occasionally manages to defraud businesses,’’ Pohlmann said. “It’s something businesses always have to be on the lookout for. Anyone who recognizes the man should call the Sheriff’s Office.’’

Jun 17, 2009 - Two boating accidents in St. Bernard Parish waters on Saturday, June 13, both involving injuries in single-boat crashes, were handled by state Wildlife and Fisheries agents and the Sheriff’s Office Marine Division.  Both accidents are under investigation and no citations have been issued but alcohol use is suspected in one of the cases and blood was drawn from one of the operators. Also, none of the five people involved in the two accidents were wearing life jackets and in neither case did the boat operator have a kill switch attached to stop the engines, making the situations more dangerous.

Capt. Brian Clark, head of the Sheriff’s Marine Division, said speed was a factor in one of the crashes.  The Marine Division and state authorities will be stepping up enforcement efforts in the summer months, especially on weekends and the Fourth of July holiday, as waterways are crammed with boaters.

“Speed is a factor in most boating accidents,’’ Clark said. “People should assume there is a boat coming at them in every turn and they should slow down and give themselves time to react and make good decisions.’’

In one of the June 13 accidents, Jeffery Duggan of Meraux, the boat operator in a 11:30 a.m. crash in the Dike Canal in Violet, and passengers Rudolph Gonzales III of Violet and Larry Smith of Picayune, Ms., were all injured, according to Capt. Stephen McManus of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Blood was drawn from Duggan because alcohol use was suspected as a factor in the accident in which the boat struck the shoreline. Blood test results were pending.

In the other June 13 accident, about 7:30 a.m. in Bay Eloi, north of the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet, boat operator Shawn Bodden of Ponchatoula and passenger Joffrey Easley of Denham Springs were injured when their boat apparently struck a submerged object and they were ejected. Bodden suffered a leg fracture.

Dedrick Labee II

Jun 15, 2009 - A 20-year-old man was booked with the attempted murder of his 20-year-old girlfriend who was shot in the face in their Chalmette apartment on Sunday, June 14, during an apparent domestic dispute, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. The woman was identified as India Dregory, and remains in critical condition at University Hospital in New Orleans. Her name was released on June 15 after sheriff’s officials were able to notify her mother.

Pohlmann said Dregory was shot once to the face, apparently at fairly close range, about 10:30 a.m. in an apartment at a complex at 301 Plantation Drive in the old Village Square section of Chalmette. A .12-gauge single-barrel shotgun was recovered in their apartment. Dedrick Labee II was arrested by sheriff’s deputies within minutes of the shooting as he attempted to leave the apartment complex.Labee allegedly walked out of the apartment and told others the woman had been shot, then tried to leave. Neighbors identified Labee as the woman’s boyfriend.

Labee was booked with attempted murder and is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $750,000 bond set on June 15.  Pohlmann said at the scene of the incident the shooting appeared to involve a domestic dispute but sheriff’s detectives were continuing an investigation including taking statements from neighbors. Labee maintained under questioning that the shooting was an accident.

Pohlmann said St. Bernard residents involved in an abusive personal relationship and need help extricating themselves from the situation can call the St. Bernard Battered Women’s Shelter at (504) 277-3177 or the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501, which will get them in touch with the shelter.

Jun 12, 2009 - Two more motorcycle units have debuted on the streets of St. Bernard Parish as part of the Sheriff’s Office Traffic Division, making a total of four cycles in use, with the increase aimed at greater enforcement of traffic laws, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

“Their prime function will be traffic enforcement,’’ Pohlmann said of the new Harley-Davidson motorcycles. “The No. 1 complaint we hear about from the public is traffic-related, involving speeding. The motorcycle units are part of the Sheriff’s Office commitment to traffic enforcement.’’ When motorcycle units are in traffic or can be seen on the side of a road, especially in school zones, there is a noticeable decrease in the speed of drivers. Getting motorists to slow down helps lower the number of traffic accidents and injuries they cause.

Numerous traffic citations have been written since the first sheriff’s motorcycles hit the streets in October 2008, manned by Lt. Mike Ingargiola, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1994, and Lt. Brent Bourgeois, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 1997.

The newest members of the motorcycle division, who completed extensive training before going on the streets the second week of June, are Deputy Thomas Spicuzza, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2000, and Deputy Tommy Duplessis, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2001.

Pohlmann said St. Bernard Parish residents having problems with traffic violators in their neighborhoods can report it by calling the sheriff’s Traffic Complaint Hotline at 278-7677.

Jun 10, 2009 - A Chalmette man has been arrested on two counts of computer-aided solicitation of a minor for sex acts, two counts of indecent behavior with juveniles and pornography involving juveniles.

Wilford Hill III, 46, 2700 Plaza Drive, was arrested Tuesday, June 9, as a result of a joint investigation involving the Louisiana Attorney General’s High Technology Crime Unit, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement. Hill is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of a $75,000 bond set on Wednesday, June 10. Hill allegedly used a computer to solicit minors for sex acts and also allegedly downloaded child pornography. Several items including a computer and CDs were seized by authorities.

Jun 9, 2009 - A blood drive will be held for Larry Ingargiola, former sheriff’s head of Crime Prevention, Neighborhood Watch and Emergency Preparedness, on Thursday, June 25 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in front of the St. Bernard Parish Prison, on Paris Road between St. Bernard Highway and the ferry landing in Chalmette.

Ingargiola, who also served as head of Homeland Security for St. Bernard government before and after Hurricane Katrina and now is with the Governor’s Office for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, has been ill and is in need of blood.

The public is being asked to help by donating blood at a bloodmobile that will be set up in the parking lot in front of the adult prison.

Appointments aren’t necessary but anyone who wants to schedule a specific time can call blood drive coordinator Capt. Charles Borchers at 278-7628 or 650-2167.

Ingargiola was a long-time employee of the Sheriff’s Office, starting in 1967, and two of his sons, Lt. Mike Ingargiola and Sgt. Steve Ingargiola, are sheriff’s deputies.

From 1995 to 2003, Larry Ingargiola was Crime Prevention Director, head of Neighborhood Watch and head of Emergency preparedness for the Sheriff’s Office, then left to become head of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness for St. Bernard Parish government, were he worked until after Hurricane Katrina.

Ingargiola now works for the Governor’s Office for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
 

Jun 5, 2009 - A 17-year-old St. Bernard Parish male was booked Friday, June 5, on five counts of aggravated rape of a boy under 12 during a one-year period from 2007-2008, St. Bernard Parish Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The arrested teen-ager is being booked as a juvenile because the alleged acts happened while he was under the adult age of 17 and he is being held in the St. Bernard Juvenile Detention Center. His name wasn’t released because state law forbids identifying juvenile criminal suspects. Detectives from the sheriff’s Juvenile Division made the arrest after obtaining a warrant signed by a judge.

Pohlmann said the younger boy told detectives he was forced on five occasions to have sex with the older boy under threat of physical harm. The incidents allegedly first took place when the victim was 10 in 2007 and continued over nearly a one-year period until he was 11. He said the suspect was 15 at the time of the first incident.

Jun, 2009 - When three airboats carrying St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies and State Police revved up in Bayou Bienvenue in Chalmette on Wednesday, May 20, the noise they made were the sounds of preparation and cooperation. The joint training session on airboats that would be used for search and rescue as well as patrols in the event of a storm in the parish was one sign of the Sheriff’s Office preparing for hurricane season that officially begins June 1.  St. Bernard Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said that along with testing boats and other equipment, some 60,000 sandbags have been made and stockpiied for use by residents who may want them in case of an emergency. “We intend to always be prepared for a hurricane season,’’ Pohlmann said. “Getting ready in advance is the most important thing.’’

Members of the sheriff’s SWAT team and other officers are training on various types of boats from the Marine Division to, if necessary, immediately patrol neighborhoods during any type of flooding from a rain event in the parish. “We are prepared,’’ Pohlmann said. “In getting ready for hurricane season we are reviewing and updating the sheriff’s hurricane plan, preparing our Marine Division, inspecting our sandbag inventory and testing equipment including generators and communications systems.’’  The Sheriff's Office held its annual hurricane preparedness meeting on June 1.

The joint training on airboats between the Sheriff’s Office and State Police was provided by Applied Marine Technology of Mandeville and gave officers who hadn’t operated such boats before a chance to learn classroom basics and familiarize themselves with their handling on water.”It went very well,’’ said Capt. Brian Clark, head of the sheriff’s Marine Division. “We want the agencies working together to get ready for hurricane season and get a good idea of everybody’s capability and an understanding of the equipment.’’

Pohlmann said the Sheriff’s Office, parish government and state officials also work together to practice evacuation of residents and their pets in case of an actual emergency. “If parish government orders an evacuation of residents in any approaching storm we will facilitate that and then lock down the parish to prevent non-residents from entering.’’

The evacuation ordered last year by Parish President Craig Taffaro and the Parish Council in advance of Hurricane Gustav was carried out smoothly, with few problems other than the loss of electricity for several day and, thankfully, the storm moved west of St. Bernard and there wasn’t any flooding inside the levee protection system. In the event of an ordered evacuation, hopefully residents will again comply and that would reduce the necessity for search and rescue operations if there was flooding in a storm. In all such evacuations “we quickly turn to law enforcement functions, including patrol by boat if necessary, to protect property in the parish,’’ Pohlmann said. We don’t want residents to have to worry about burglars if they must evacuate.

A major improvement since Hurricane Katrina is communications systems, including one agency being able to speak by radio to others, Pohlmann said. “We now have inter-operability in communications with other parish agencies as well as with the state and others in the region,’’ which addresses a major problem that took place after Katrina.  “We never had that before.’’

Pohlmann urged families to take time now to discuss and decide what they would do in the event of a need to leave the area. “Time is on your side right now,’’ Pohlmann said. “Take advantage of it. Don’t get caught unprepared in the rush of a hurricane warning. Act now; you will be glad you did.”  Families are advised to be prepared for any situation by thinking about what disaster supplies they need to assemble. Such supplies should include:

• Can Opener
• Three-day supply or more of non-perishable food
• Prescription medications and other medicine possibly needed
• Bedding or sleeping bags
• Small fire extinguisher 
• Bleach (no lemon or other additives)
• Mosquito repellent
• First Aid kit
• Water (at least one gallon, per person, per day)
• Eating utensils
• Tarp, rope, and duct tape
• Toiletries
• Toilet paper
• Battery-operated radio
• Flashlights
• Extra batteries
• Extra Keys
• Sunglasses
• At least one complete change of clothing and footwear per person
• Entertainment —Books for adult readers and for children, board games and/or other games that do not require batteries or electricity.
   

• For Babies —Formula, diapers, wipes bottles, powdered milk and medications.
• For Adults —Heart and high blood pressure medication, insulin, prescription drugs, denture needs, contact lenses and supplies and extra eye glasses.
• For Pets—ID tag, photo of pet for identification purposes, weeks supply of food, medications, veterinarian’s phone number.  Do not leave your pet behind. Transport pets in secure pet carriers and keep pets on leashes.  Most emergency shelters do not admit pets.  Check with hotels in safe locations and ask if you can bring your pet.  Call family, friends and boarding kennels in a safe location to arrange care if you and your pet cannot stay together.
   

• Inventory of valuable household goods and important telephone numbers
• Family records (birth, marriage, death certificates)
• Important Papers including Insurance, Account Numbers, Money, Checks or Credit Cards
• Name, address and telephone number of your selected out-of-area contact person

Jun 5, 2009 - St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s officials are warning boaters not to use the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet at the point near Bayou La Loutre where a rock barrier to close the channel is nearly completed and to be cautious on more narrow alternate routes such as the nearby Spoil Canal, which will have increased vessel traffic.

Numerous boaters had been ignoring signs warning of submerged rocks just below the water surface as the barrier in eastern St. Bernard s being finished, according to Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann and Capt. Brian Clark, head of the sheriff’s Marine Division in St. Bernard. Pohlmann said no boats of any size are supposed to go through the ship channel at the point where the rock barrier is being worked on and should use an alternate route. “Submerged hazards a boat operator can’t see can damage a hull and throw the operator or passengers out of the boat, possibly killing someone.’’ Clark said, “I saw probably 150 boats, minimum’’ go through the area in one day at the end of May, “This is a dangerous thing right now and every day the rocks will be closer to the surface.’’ No accidents at the rock barrier have been reported.

Also, Pohlmann said, when boaters use an alternate route such as the Spoil Canal just off Bayou La Loutre near Breton Sound Marina, or Bayou La Loutre they should be cautious and be aware there could be increased vessel traffic pushed to the more narrow waterways now that the Gulf Outlet is being closed to boats at the rock wall.“Our Marine Division will increase patrols on alternate routes because there will be more crew boats and recreational fishermen’’ on those waterways.

The Corps of Engineers project to build a rock barrier across the waterway will be completed in June and the agency said that as of April 22 boats of any size are not supposed to navigate the MR – GO at the site of the barrier. Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Co., an Arkansas company, began work earlier this year to close the waterway under a $13.6 million contract. The company will dump some 433,000 tons of rock into the MR-GO, creating a rock barrier across the channel. When finished the rock structure will have a base of 450 feet, tapering to a 12-foot crown and will cover 10 acres of the channel bottom and jut several feet up from the water's surface.

The shipping channel, built in the 1960s as a shortcut from the Gulf to New Orleans, has been blamed in St. Bernard Parish, the Lower 9th Ward and some parts of eastern New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina's deadly flooding in 2005, as well as flooding during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. The Army Corps of Engineers contends the channel had minimal impact on flooding. The Corps has said that while the rock barrier is not a hurricane protection measure, it will stop saltwater intrusion blamed for the destruction of thousands of acres of area wetlands vital to absorbing the blows of hurricanes.

Carlos Garay

Jun 3, 2009 -  A Honduran man who had been living in New Orleans is wanted for attempted murder in a plot to kill a married couple shot and wounded in Chalmette the night of Feb. 3 as they left a store parking lot after seeing a different man in the store whom they knew years earlier, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Carlos Garay, 31, identified as one of several men who shot from a truck at a couple from El Salvador who had moved to Chalmette, is wanted for attempted first-degree murder in an arrest warrant obtained by St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives. Garay was allegedly driving a truck in which he and at least one other man allegedly lay in waiting for the couple, then blocked their exit from a parking lot on West Judge Perez Drive and fired several shots at them. The man and woman were grazed by the shots but not seriously injured. Garay’s truck was recovered in Chalmette the day after the shooting.

A second man, Jose “Alex’’ Rojas, no age available – identified as the man the couple saw in the store and knew years earlier in El Salvador - allegedly orchestrated the attempt to kill the couple as they left the parking lot. Rojas fired several shots from the vehicle Garay was driving.

The shooting victims claimed Rojas murdered the male victim’s brother in El Salvador about 15 years ago but they said they hadn't seen him since until they met in the Home Depot store in Chalmette the night of Tuesday, Feb. 3. Rojas is also wanted for attempted murder in the case.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either wanted man who allegedly shot the couple would be eligible for a reward of up to $2,500 by calling Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111 in New Orleans or by calling the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501.

Rojas and Garay escaped but a sheriff’s deputy on patrol on Feb. 4, spotted a vehicle matching the description of the getaway vehicle as it was parked on a street in Chalmette.Residents at the address, who said they knew an Alex but said he didn’t live there, said the vehicle had been parked there since the night before. The car was determined to be the one used in the shooting but no gun was recovered. Sheriff’s detectives learned both Rojas and Garay had lived in New Orleans but neither has been found, authorities said.