In the heat of the night

Crime & Safety

August 25th, 2010

Crimes last week in the 8th District
(Click on the crime map below to enlarge it)

Sunday (8.15.10)
Theft, 400 Bourbon, 1:38 a.m.
Auto Theft, 500 Common, 2:45 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 800 Dumaine, 9:44 a.m.
Auto Theft, 920 Conti, 10:01 a.m.
Theft, 817 Common, 5:29 p.m.
Auto Burglary, Gravier & O’Keefe, 5:44 p.m.
Pursesnatching, 640 Bourbon, 8:57 p.m.

Monday (8.16.10)
Auto Theft, Burgundy & St Peter, 12:20 a.m.
Auto Burglary, 806 Conti, 3:55 a.m.
Theft, 843 Camp, 12:55 p.m.

Tuesday (8.17.10)
Auto Burglary, Burgundy & Toulouse, 4:09 a.m.
Aggravated Battery, 2 Canal, 5:14 a.m.
Theft, 621 St Louis, 4:28 p.m.
Theft, 339 Bourbon, 7:56 p.m.
Theft, 300 Poydras, 10:23 p.m.

Wednesday (8.18.10)
Auto Burglary, 1000 St Peter, 9:07 a.m.
Aggravated Assault, Baronne & Poydras, 9:17 a.m.
Theft, Burgundy & St Ann, 12:03 p.m.
Theft, Carondelet & Julia, 6:20 p.m.

Thursday (8.19.10)
Theft, 227 Bourbon, 1:30 a.m.
Theft, 501 Tchoupitoulas, 4:23 a.m.
Theft, 501 Decatur, 5:41 a.m.
Theft, 300 Bourbon, 10:08 a.m.
Theft, 8 Canal, 1:16 p.m.
Auto Theft, S Claiborne & Poydras, 3:18 p.m.
Shoplifting, 601 Julia, 4:01 p.m.
Auto Theft, 210 N Rampart, 5:37 p.m.

Friday (8.20.10)
Auto Burglary, Dauphine & Toulouse, 5:08 a.m.
Auto Theft, 800 S Peters, 11:20 a.m.

Saturday (8.21.10)
Theft, 555 Canal, 4:12 a.m.
Auto Theft, 1940 Dauphine, 4:36 a.m.
Theft, 625 St Ann, 6:35 a.m.
Auto Theft, Andrew Higgins & Annunciation, 12:19 p.m.
Auto Theft, Andrew Higgins & St Charles, 1:41 p.m.
Theft, Bienville & Bourbon, 5:26 p.m.
Theft, 441 Bourbon, 11:05 p.m.
Simple Robbery, 300 Bourbon, 11:51 p.m.

Maybe it was the heat: The week was marked by violence of sorts: threatening a driver, smacking a friend with a board, ramming a wife’s car—you know, the kind of stuff that evokes a lonely saxophone wailing from a balcony in the Quarter on a hot August night:

• Sunday (8.22.10) 1:16 a.m.: Demetrius Hayes found himself in a whole heap of trouble after he allegedly fled a hit-and-run accident, resulting in 10 charges—the least of which wasn’t aggravated assault with a firearm.

He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, hit-and-run driving, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, disobeying a police officer, and 4 counts of failure to obey a traffic control device.

Hayes, 42, had steered clear of the law for nearly a decade. He was charged for DWI with 4 or more convictions in 2001, but DA Harry Connick had to let him go because he failed to charge him within the legal time allowed.

In his most recent tiff, Hayes allegedly ran into the car of a 30-year-old black man. The victim, outraged when the other driver drove off, took off in pursuit of him. When he caught up with him at Magazine and St. Joseph streets in the Warehouse District, Hayes allegedly got out of his car and pointed “a long black object concealed beneath a towel” at the victim and drove off again. The victim continued his pursuit until police finally caught up with his car and arrested Hayes.

• Wednesday (8.18.10) 9:25 a.m.: A domestic dispute led to David B. Collins, 30, allegedly chasing after his 30-year-old wife in his car.

He allegedly intentionally rammed his car into the rear of hers at Baronne and Poydras streets, then chased her to N. Broad and St. Peter streets, where she managed to elude him.

A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was booked Sunday (8.22.10) on a charge of aggravated assault. He was held on $15,000 bond but managed to bail out after signing a “stay away” order.

• Tuesday (8.17.10) 5:10 a.m.: Vagrants will be vagrants, I guess. Who knows what it was about, but a 36-year-old white guy sleeping behind the World Trade Center, 2 Canal St., was struck in the face with a board by a fellow bum who fled on foot.

Police caught up with Robert Miller, 47, and charged him with 2nd-degree battery. He is being held on $15,000 bond.

• More than a year ago: In one of those “yeah I know him, I just don’t know his name” encounters on 4.7.09 in a hotel in the 300 block of O’Keefe Avenue, a black chick was attacked in her room by a black dude who kicked in the door and struck her with a lamp.

Cops finally figured they were looking for Deshawn Freeman, now 29, after showing a photo line-up to the victim who positively identified him on 6.4.09. They issued a warrant for his arrest but weren’t able to apprehend him until over a year later on 6.9.10 when he was booked with aggravated battery.

Freeman skedaddled from OPP after posting a $30,000 bond and is running the streets until his 11.9.10 court date.

Only ONE robbery: Can you believe it? Only one robbery in the 8th District all of last week, and that one a phone snatch-and-grab. (The second robbery listed here is technically charged to this week’s crimes.)

• Saturday (8.21.10) 12:20 a.m.: A 39-year-old white woman was yakking on her iPhone in the 300 block of Bourbon Street (between Bienville and Conti streets) when a black brat ran up and grabbed the phone from her hand and fled on foot down Bourbon.

The robber was described as 18 to 25 years old, 6’ tall, weighing 170 pounds, with short hair, wearing a red T-shirt.

• Monday (8.23.10) 1:55 a.m.: One of 2 white woman standing at Bienville and Dauphine streets was robbed by a black pipsqueak who pulled a gun and demanded money. One victim refused and the perp struck her with his pistol and grabbed the purse from her arm. He fled on foot on Bienville, turning on Burgundy Street toward Conti Street.

He is described as 30 years old, 5’7” tall, weighing 155 pounds, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and long black pants. (Sounds like a waiter who didn’t make enough in tips that night.)

Not kidding around: A 25-year-old French Quarter waiter was arrested and charged with 44 counts of possessing child pornography Thursday (8.19.20).

An on-going investigation of child porn by the Louisiana State Police led them to the apartment of Arthur H. “Hutch” Terry IV in the 700 block of Royal Street where, they said, their investigation indicated someone was downloading child porn from the Internet.

When they executed a search warrant around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon at that address they found a Dell laptop computer containing 44 sexually-explicit images and videos depicting minors.

Police arrested the 6’ 6” tall, 210-pound Terry on 44 counts of possessing child porn. His bond of $110,000 was posted by his parents and he was released from OPP this morning (8.25.10).

If convicted of the charges he could spend 2 to 10 years in prison without parole.

Going out walking: Join Capt. Edwin Hosli and officers of the 8th District for the NOPD’s second monthly Crime Walk on Thursday (8.26.10) at 6:30 p.m. in the Warehouse District.

Walks are held simultaneously in all 8 police districts to enables the community and police to come together and walk the beat to meet your neighbors and the police patrolling your neighborhood.

The route this Thursday is:

Begin at 1040 St. Charles Avenue;

Turn right on Andrew Higgins Blvd. (one block);

Turn left on Camp Street (5 blocks);

Turn left and travel through Lafayette Square between North and South Maestri Streets;

Turn left on St. Charles Avenue (half of a block);

Turn left on Girod Street (3 blocks);

Turn right on Tchoupitoulas Street (3 blocks);

Veer right onto Annunciation Street (one block);

Turn right on Poeyfarre Street,

End at Magazine and Poeyfarre (D-Day/American Sector area)

Wipe out graffiti: If you want to help eradicate graffiti from the walls of the French Quarter, the French Quarter Business Association (FQBA), along with other civic groups, is gearing up a second graffiti clean up this Saturday (8.28.10) for citizens to participate in a “hands-on” endeavor dubbed Vieux Carre Graffiti Abatement Program or VC-GAP.

PJ’s Coffee Café in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon St., is offering all volunteers with VC-GAP cleanup T-shirts, complimentary coffee and pastries from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Volunteers will receive a VC-GAP t-shirt to wear on the 28th, while supplies last when they check in at the 8th District police station’s courtyard. The clean-up begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 11:30 a.m.

To volunteer, contact the FQBA office at 504.309.1423 or email graffiti@fqba.org or for more information, visit the website www.fqba.org.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com

Thom Kahler

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