Jan 31, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking the public’s help in identifying three young white males who damaged a vehicle and two mail boxes by setting off small explosions in Chalmette on Sunday night and early Monday morning, Jan. 30-31, by using chemicals in plastic bottles, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

No one was injured in the incidents which occurred between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., Pohlmann said. Anyone who finds a plastic bottle in their mail box shouldn’t try to remove it but should call authorities.

Anyone with information about the identity of those involved in the explosions should call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 of Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

A witness to one incident saw an older model silver Jeep, probably a Cherokee, that was occupied by three young white males, Pohlmann said.

All four small explosions happened in Chalmette, east of Paris Road, in the 3500 block of Charles Drive, the 3300 block of Veronica Drive, the 3400 block of Chalona Drive and the 3800 block of Despaux Drive.

On Charles Drive, someone threw a 20-ounce plastic bottle with chemicals inside into a vehicle, causing damage to floor boards.

On Veronica. a young white male wearing a camouflaged hoodie was seen outside a home and shortly afterward there was a small explosion but little damage was done.

In the incident on Chalona, a witness saw a silver Jeep approach a mailbox and something was put inside which exploded, damaging the box.

On Despaux Drive, a bottle holding an unknown substance was placed in a mailbox and exploded, also damaging the box.

Jan 31, 2011 - Seven men have been arrested in a series of burglaries in the Violet area in eastern St. Bernard Parish, including one in which some $9,000 in cash and property was recovered from a break-in in which $10,000 was stolen, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

In one group of six men, five were booked with burglary and possession of stolen property and the other solely with possession of stolen property. A seventh man, believed to have been acting separately from the others, was booked with burglary and criminal trespassing.

Pohlmann said, “These men have preyed on the possessions of others in the Violet area in recent weeks. Some are believed to have been responsible for as many as 10 break-ins of homes, businesses and vehicles.” The investigation is continuing, Pohlmann said.
In January, sheriff’s detectives, commanded by Col. John Doran, have now arrested a total of about a dozen men on burglary and possession of stolen property charges.

Arrested in recent days in the Violet cases, all from the Violet area,  are:

• Lyndon McElveen, 19; booked with two counts of burglary and two counts possession of stolen property.
• Leroy McElveen, 21, brother of Lyndon McElveen, booked with one count each of burglary and possession of stolen property.
• Keithrone Griffin, no age available, booked with one count each of burglary and possession of stolen property.
• Jaron Brown, 18, booked with one count burglary and possession of stolen property and was already in St. Bernard Parish Prison on an armed robbery charge from Jan. 16.
• Brandon Duplessis, 21, booked one count each of burglary and possession of stolen property.
• Travaun Major, 24, possession of stolen property.

Lyndon McElveen is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $50,000 bond; Brown is jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bond; Griffin is jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond; Duplessis was released on $25,000 bond; Leroy McElveen was released on $15,000 bond; and Major was released on $7,500 bond.

All but Griffin are booked in connection with a Jan. 6 burglary at a Violet residence in which a large amount of property including three televisions and a computer were stolen, most of which has been recovered.

Most of the arrested men are also suspects in up to 10 burglaries in the Violet area in recent weeks. And those investigations are continuing.

Lyndon McElveen and Griffin were also booked in connection with a house burglary Jan. 26 in which $10,000 cash and other items were stolen from a residence where a relative of McElveen lives. Some $9,000 cash and property was recovered when the two were arrested, Pohlmann said. The rest had been spent.

In the separate case, Sherman Lewis, 25, 2225 Delta Queen Drive, Violet, was booked Jan. 25 with criminal trespassing when he was seen looking into vehicles on a Violet Street. He was later booked with burglary of a vehicle. Lewis is being held in jail in lieu of bond set at $15,000.

Jan 31, 2011 - Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith and three other top police officials came to Chalmette on Friday, Jan. 28, to formally thank the Sheriff’s Office for its help in the arrests of three men for a 2010 pharmacy shootout and attempted robbery.
 
Three St. Bernard Parish residents were captured as suspects in an incident last May 1 in which several gunshots were fired inside Family Drug Mart in Slidell during a botched robbery attempt. No one was injured. 

One man was arrested by Slidell police the day of the shootout between would-be robbers and a pharmacy security guard. St. Bernard Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said sheriff’s detectives and deputies arrested two other suspects in St. Bernard over the next several days.

Police Chief Smith, Slidell Assistant Chief Kevin Foltz, Capt. Kevin Swann, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, and Det. Brian Brown, a native of St. Bernard Parish, came to Chalmette to give letters of appreciation to St. Bernard officers and commanders.

They met with Pohlmann, Chief of Detectives Col. John Doran, Det. Capt. Mark Jackson, Det. Sgt. Paul Miller and Cpl. Johnette Young of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division.

“We wanted to come show our appreciation,’’ Chief Smith said.”The help and cooperation you gave us was crucial.’’

Swann told Pohlmann, “We wouldn’t have solved the case without your people.’’

Pohlmann said the Sheriff’s Office enjoys good relations with other law enforcement agencies in the area and is glad to be able to help bring criminals to justice. Pohlmann added, “We appreciate hearing what a good job our guys are doing. We think we have the best team on the field we have ever had at the Sheriff’s Office.’’

Jacob R. Lagman of Chalmette was arrested May 1, 2010, found hiding in a Slidell backyard after the shooting and robbery attempt while Keyshawn M. Hill of Violet, was arrested May 3 at his home by St. Bernard sheriff’s detectives and Slidell police. 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.

The third suspect, Charles “Doody’’ Roy, Violet, was arrested May 5 by the Sheriff's Office, accused of driving the two other St. Bernard men to the pharmacy. Roy was booked with being a principal to the attempted robbery.

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 and the guard returned fire, getting off three rounds but missing the suspects, police said.

Jan 31, 2011 - Continuing to look for drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Sheriff's Office held its first sobriety checkpoint of the year on Thursday night, Jan. 27, conducting such checks about once a month, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. Such checkpoints are manpower intensive, Pohlmann said, because two lanes of traffic must be reduced to one lane for safety purposes and numerous officers are needed to engage motorists while keeping traffic moving at a reasonable rate. But Pohlmann said the checks are important in getting impaired drivers off the road.

Shown above, Sheriff's Deputy Randy Scheurmann asks a driver if he has been drinking that night. Right, Deputy Jarrod Gourgues, with Lt. Brent bourgeois at right, gives a field sobriety test to a driver who had an open container; and above right, Deputy Karl Bartholomew climbs to the cab of a large truck to speak with the driver. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTOS.

Jan 28, 2011 - A body found in a waterway off Paris Road in Chalmette on Thursday, Jan. 27 was identified as a man reported missing two days earlier and an autopsy determined he drowned, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann.
 
The victim was identified as Craig Magnon, 57, who had been staying on a sailboat not far from where the body was recovered in the Davis Canal, at the back of the Gulf Outlet Marina off Paris Road, Pohlmann said.
 
A group of men returning from fishing had spotted body and called authorities on Jan. 27. When recovered by the Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the body carried identification in the name of Magnon. His family reported him missing on Jan. 25 and he was last seen several weeks earlier, Pohlmann said.

An autopsy conducted Friday, Jan. 28, determined drowning to be the cause of death, Pohlmann said, and it was speculated Magnon had fallen while getting on or off the sailboat.

See original story below.

Jim Alphonso Jr., booked with indecent behavior with a juvenile girl

Jan 26, 2011 - A Chalmette man has been booked with indecent behavior with a girl under the age of 10 who he made touch him sexually, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Jim Alphonso Jr., 36, 2517 Ventura Drive, was arrested Tuesday, Jan. 25, after the girl told her mother and grandmother about the alleged incident and the Sheriff’s Office was called, Pohlmann said. The sheriff’s Juvenile Division, headed by Maj. Darlene Poche, investigated the complaint leading to the arrest.

Alphonso was booked with the felony charge of indecent behavior with a juvenile and he is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Pohlmann said the incident happened about two weeks ago at a residence in Violet when two minors, including the girl, were left in Alphonso’s care.

Jan 26, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office will conduct a sobriety checkpoint in Chalmette on Thursday night, Jan. 27, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Checkpoints, which are normally set up at nightfall, are conducted about once a month in an effort to find drivers impaired by alcohol or drug use, Pohlmann said.

Jan 24, 2011 - UPDATE  A third Chalmette man has been arrested in the periodic theft of more than $25,000 of copper and aluminum piping at a St. Bernard Parish wastewater treatment plant under construction in Meraux, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Two men had been arrested on felon theft charges on Jan. 21 and Jan. 11 and a third who was wanted on the same charge was taken into custody on Saturday, Jan. 22, Pohlmann said. He said the $25,0000 in materials were sold for scrap metal in New Orleans.

Shawn M. Richard, 30, 3721 Plaza Drive, Chalmette, was arrested Jan. 22 and has since been released on $25,000 bond. Booked Friday, Jan. 21, was Joshua Bordelon, 20, 3522 Jackson Blvd., being held in lieu of $25,000 bond, while Allan Campo, 24, 2009 Chetta Drive, Apt. 7, was arrested Jan. 11 and is jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond, Pohlmann said.

Records from a scrap yard where metals were sold, photographic evidence from the site as well as numerous interviews led to the two arrests and obtaining of an arrest warrant for the third man, Pohlmann said.

The investigation is continuing because others were at least partly involved, Pohlmann said. Several thousand dollars worth of tools were also stolen at the construction site but haven’t been recovered.

Several sheriff’s detectives, under the command of Chief of Detectives Col. John Doran, have worked on the investigation, principally Sgt. Paul Miller. Periodic thefts were reported at the construction site since December of last year. At least 500 feet of four-inch aluminum conduit and 40 pieces of 12-foot copper ground rods are missing, with a total value of about $25,000, Pohlmann said.

Numerous power tools have also been stolen at the site.

Evidence was also obtained at a scrap metal yard on Poland Avenue in New Orleans of materials matching those stolen being sold there as scrap numerous times since December by the alleged thiefs, Pohlmann said.

See original story below

(Left) Shawn Richard, wanted for felony theft. Anyone with information can call 271-2501. (Center) Allan Campo, booked with felony theft of $25,000 of materials at St. Bernard wastewater plant. (Right) Joshua Bordelon, booked with felony theft of $25,000 of maerials from wastewater plant site.

Jan 21, 2011 - Culminating nearly a month of investigation, two St. Bernard Parish men have been arrested and a third is sought in the periodic theft of more than $25,000 of metal piping at a St. Bernard Parish wastewater treatment plant under construction in Meraux. Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Both copper and aluminum were stolen at the site and sold for scrap metal in New Orleans, Pohlmann said. Records from a scrap yard where metals were sold, photographic evidence from the site as well as numerous interviews led to the two arrests and obtaining of an arrest warrant for the third man, Pohlmann said.
The investigation is continuing because others were at least partly involved, Pohlmann said. Several thousand dollars worth of tools were also stolen at the construction site but haven’t been recovered.

“This type of investigation is time-consuming and requires much manpower but is important because it involves the rebuilding of St. Bernard Parish,’’ Pohlmann said. “The people we are bringing to justice prey on whatever they can steal and then sell for scrap metal and in this case, to them, getting their next drug fix was more important than the good of the parish’’ which is why they stole from the site of the wastewater treatment plant.

Like in other locales, obtaining money for drug use remains the driving force behind property crime in St. Bernard, Pohlmann said.

Both arrested men are booked with felony theft over $500, the same charge the third will face. All three have criminal records and are drug-abusers, Pohlmann said.

Arrested Friday, Jan. 21, was Joshua Bordelon, 20, 3522 Jackson Blvd., Chalmette, while Allan Campo, 24, 2009 Chetta Drive, Apt. 7, Chalmette, was arrested Jan. 11. Bond hasn’t been set for Bordelon , who is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison, and Campo is jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond, Pohlmann said.

Sought on an arrest warrant signed Jan. 20 is Shawn M. Richard, 30, of St. Bernard Parish. Richard hasn’t been caught but may surrender through the cooperation of his family, Pohlmann said.

Several sheriff’s detectives, under the command of Chief of Detectives Col. John Doran, have worked on the investigation, principally Sgt. Paul Miller. Periodic thefts were reported at the construction site since December of last year. At least 500 feet of four-inch aluminum conduit and 40 pieces of 12-foot copper ground rods are missing, with a total value of about $25,000, Pohlmann said.

Numerous power tools have also been stolen at the site.

Evidence was also obtained at a scrap metal yard on Poland Avenue in New Orleans of materials matching those stolen being sold there as scrap numerous times since December by the alleged thiefs, Pohlmann said.

There was also video surveillance from the wastewater treatment plant construction site allegedly showing Richard and Campo stealing aluminum pipe from the site, Pohlmann said.

Dianne Flowers, 46, of Chalmette, booked in shooting of her long-time boyfriend

Jan 19,2011 - A Chalmette woman in a long-term relationship with a man shot him during an argument in the home they own together early Sunday, Jan. 16, and after taking him to a hospital with a chest wound they both initially lied about the incident, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The woman, Dianne Flowers, 46, 3325 Decomine Drive, and the victim, Sylvain Johnson, 45, went to University Hospital in New Orleans and said the shooting happened on the West Bank, prompting officials to call the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, which later called St. Bernard authorities, Pohlmann said.

When St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives went to the couple’s house Sunday evening, Flowers eventually came home and, under questioning, agreed to a search of the home and said she shot Johnson during an argument inside but claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse, Pohlmann said.

Flowers was booked with aggravated second-degree battery and on Tuesday, Jan. 18, was released from St. Bernard Parish Prison on bond set at $50,000.

The shooting was the first in St. Bernard Parish since June 2009 in which someone was seriously injured. A teen-age girl suffered a minor graze wound to the head last summer when her boyfriend shot at her in an argument.

When Flowers opened a door at her home, detectives found blood stains in several rooms and evidence that several shots had been fired from a .25-caliber handgun, including one which destroyed a television in one room and another that hit a ceiling, Pohlmann said.

The couple had quarreled early Sunday morning after they returned home separately from a party and Johnson arrived later than the woman, Pohlmann said. Flowers shot the television in what was described as Johnson’s television room, Pohlmann said, and when they struggled another shot hit his hand and apparently deflected into his upper chest. She said Johnson hid the gun, which hasn’t been recovered.

Neither called authorities or went to a hospital immediately, Pohlmann said. Johnson laid on a floor for a while until his condition was worsening and then Flowers brought him to University Hospital, where they said he was shot in an incident in Marrero.

Johnson was initially listed in critical condition at University Hospital but his condition has since improved, Pohlmann said.

(Left) Jaron Brown, 18, of Violet, booked armed robbery on Jan. 16. (Right)Jeremiah Blaise, 17, of Chalmette, booked armed robbery on Jan. 17.

Jan 18,2 2011 - A 14-year-old Chalmette boy was beaten and robbed of his wallet containing $10 on Monday, Jan. 17, by five teen-agers – all of whom he knew - in an incident sparked when they apparently believed he had earlier broken into the home of one of their relatives, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said. All five were quickly arrested.

Also, an 18-year-old Violet man was booked with armed robbery on Sunday night, Jan. 16, shortly after a woman reported she was robbed of cash at gunpoint while in a car outside a Violet convenience store, Pohlmann said.

Investigations are continuing in both cases.
Jeremiah Blaise, 17, 3716 LaPlace St., Chalmette, is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $75,000 bond, booked with armed robbery and aggravated battery in the robbery and beating of the 14-year-old.

Blaise and four others, two 15-year-old boys and two 14-year-old boys whose names weren’t released because they are juveniles, were arrested within minutes of the 4:30 p.m. incident in the 3700 block of Richelieu St., just east of Paris Road in Chalmette.

Pohlmann said the 14-year-old, who suffered minor injuries, was walking on Richelieu, not far from his home, when five teen-agers he knew approached and blamed him for an alleged burglary of one of their relatives’ home on Genie Street that morning. He was struck in the face and fell to the ground where he was kicked and a BB gun was used to strike him several times on the head.

Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call quickly found all of the five and recovered the BB gun hidden behind the home of a relative of one boy, Pohlmann said. The wallet wasn’t recovered.

Blaise went to the adult corrections facility while the other four youths went to the parish juvenile detention center because of their ages.

In the unrelated incident in Violet the night of Jan. 16, Jaron Brown, 18, 3020 Guerra Drive, was booked with armed robbery and is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $100,000 bond, Pohlmann said.

The victim, a 20-year-old Violet woman, said she had just made a purchase about 7:30 p.m. in a Violet convenience store in the 5600 block of East Judge Perez Drive and had gone to a car occupied by a friend when several men outside the store approached and one pulled a gun and demanded money she still had in her hand.

She said the man she later identified as Brown grabbed the money from her hand and fled and she and the friend in the vehicle drove to her home. She also said the robber was friends with a man she knew.

Sheriff’s deputies, after the call of the robbery, soon found Brown and the person the victim said he was friends with walking together near Guerra Drive and East Judge Perez Drive. The woman identified Brown as the robber and he was arrested, Pohlmann said.

Jan 14, 2011 - Administrative offices of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, including the Civil Division which handles tax collection, fines and occupation licenses, will be closed Monday, Jan. 17, for the holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

The offices will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 8:30 a.m.

Elizabeth “Beth’’ Mahoney of Violet has had six operations since she was shot to the face in her home on Highland Street by her husband, Charles Richardson, on Jan. 13, 2009, in an incident in which he killed the woman’s adopted daughter, India Mahoney, 18, a high school honors student.

Charles Richardson

“I had to get better,’’ Mahoney told people with her in court in Chalmette after the jury verdict following a one-day trial before state District Judge Robert Buckley in a case prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Glenn Diaz.

“Nobody else could talk for her,’’ Mahoney said, referring to the murdered daughter she had adopted only days after the girl was born, before she married Richardson. The woman, who now uses her maiden name Mahoney, had married Richardson soon after adopting the girl in 1990.

The killing was the last murder that took place in St. Bernard Parish.

A jury of seven men and five women took exactly 42 minutes to determine Richardson, 52, of Violet, was guilty of killing the teen-ager, who was shot to the face, like her mother. Charges of attempted murder of the wife are pending.

Mahoney, from the courtroom audience, spoke to jurors as they began filing out of the jury box. “I can’t thank you all enough,’’ she told them.

The verdict came in one of the few criminal trials held in St. Bernard Parish, where most criminal cases are settled with a guilty plea rather than a defendant going to actual trial.

The bullet that wounded Beth Mahoney entered the left side of her face below her earlobe and exited the right side. She spent three weeks in intensive care and still faces a seventh surgery, she said.

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 of herself and her daughter.

Judge Buckley is scheduled to sentence Richardson, perhaps Jan. 20, to the mandatory term of life imprisonment without parole.

Richardson didn’t take the stand in his own defense during the one-day trial. His defense was that he had no motive to have killed his stepdaughter.

India Mahoney

After the murder, Richardson fled across five states until he crashed his truck while being chased by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann, who was present for the jury’s verdict and told the mother he was glad her daughter’s killer had been convicted, said St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives had built a strong case showing Richardson as the teen-ager’s killer.

Pohlmann said, “From the initial phone call of the shootings to the apprehension and follow-up investigation, our criminal investigation bureau did an outstanding job, delivering a solid case to the prosecution.’’
Richardson has prior convictions for sexual battery in the 1980s and possession of crack cocaine in the 1990s.

India Mahoney had called the sheriff’s Office in August 2008, only five months before her murder, reporting that Richardson was acting erratically, swinging a baseball bat in the front yard and saying someone was under the house, according to a police report of the incident. Richardson was arrested at the time for possession of cocaine and on weapon charges. He was awaiting prosecution on those charges when he shot his wife and stepdaughter, with indications he was arguing with them about getting money to buy crack cocaine.

A social worker said India Mahoney had told classmates that her stepfather pulled a gun on her more than one occasion before the morning of the shooting.
In September 2009, Beth Mahoney had obtained a restraining order against her husband, but she let him back in the house around Thanksgiving because he had kidney ailments which required dialysis three times a week, Pohlmann said after the murder.

A student with a 3.6 GPA and member of the high school's volleyball and softball teams, India Mahoney had hoped to study engineering at Southern University in Baton Rouge, according to family and friends.

The morning of her murder, St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives found a receipt for a $175 deposit on her class's senior trip to Disney World attached to the family's refrigerator.

At Warren Easton's graduation after the teen-ager’s murder, administrators left a seat open in honor of India Mahoney and called her name because she had already earned her diploma.
 

Leo Spadoni, 22, booked with aggravated criminal damage of equipment.

Jan 13, 2011 - A St. Bernard Parish man has been arrested and another is sought in an incident in which some $10,000 in damage was done by the two firing a shotgun at a crane and other equipment being use to build an important levee project in St. Bernard, Sheriff Jack A. Stephens said.

Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann announced the Sheriff’s Office will increase patrols both by its marine division and by deputies on 4-wheel all-terrain vehicles on the levee system to prevent further incidents of damage to equipment being used in the levee-building project., which he said is important to the parish. Plaquemines Parish authorities will also step up patrols along the levees in their parish, Pohlmann said.

There have been several incidents of equipment being damaged in recent weeks.

Leo Spadoni, 22, of Robert Drive in eastern St. Bernard, was booked Wednesday, Jan. 12 with aggravated criminal damage, a felony, by agents of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division, headed by Col. Chad Clark.

Spadoni admitted he was involved in shooting equipment owned by a contracting company, Sheriff Stephens said. A .12-gauge shotgun was recovered at his home. Spadoni was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of bond set at $2,500.

Also, a judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a second man, identified as Christopher Holmes, no age or address available, of St. Bernard Parish, wanted for taking part in the hooting of equipment with Spadoni, the sheriff said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Holmes should call the Sherirff’s Office at 271-2501, Pohlmann said.

A Sheriff’s Office incident report said an employee of the contractor Cajun Construction reported Jan. 4 that he saw two men step out of a wooded area and fire a shotgun at a construction container and a crane near the Jourdan Canal.

Jan 7, 2011 - The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office is accepting applications for Reserve Division volunteer officers to supplement its regular force of sheriff’s deputies, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

“Our Reserve Division has been important to the Sheriff’s Office in the past,’’ Pohlmann said. “We have always had good reserve officers. They have been helpful in supplementing our regular manpower in specific situations such as working during athletic events, parades, festivals and other events.

“Some have gone on to become regular sheriff’s deputies and are still with us,’’ Pohlmann said.

But most members of the Reserve Division, which is an unpaid, voluntary job, left after Hurricane Katrina as many residents moved from St. Bernard Parish, he said.

“Now we would like to build the reserve force back up and are accepting applications from people who would like to help the Sheriff’s Office and their community,’’ Pohlmann said.

Col. Jerry Rathburn, commander of the Reserve Division, said there were about 40 officers at the time of the hurricane but currently the group is down to less than 10. “We would like to make it a lot bigger,’’ he said.

“You don’t need a background in law enforcement’’ to be a reserve officer, Rathburn said. “We will give you the training. Having the desire to do this is the big thing – we need people who want to give something back to help the community. The people who do this are dedicated.”

To apply a person must be at least 21 years old, have a high school diploma or GED and a clean police record, Rathburn said. Background checks would be done on applicants.

For more information, call Rathburn at (504) 278-7676 and those who want to follow up with an application will be directed to fill out the required paperwork, Rathburn said.

Jan 6, 2011 - A Memphis man has been arrested in Chalmette for failure to register as a convicted sex offender after moving to St. Bernard Parish and he was found during an investigation of two illegal boarding houses being operated in Chalmette, one of which he was living at, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

David L. Phillips, 55, who served several years in prison in Tennessee for rape and sexual battery before his release in the 1990s, was booked Jan. 5 after a warrant for his arrest was issued by a judge following an investigation by the Criminal Intelligence Division of the Sheriff’s Office, Pohlmann said.

Phillips, who may have been living in Chalmette since November, had failed to notify the Sheriff’s Office of his presence by registering as a convicted sex offender, as required by law, Pohlmann said. The offense is a felony.

Phillips, who said he came to St. Bernard Parish for work and had been living at what was an illegally-operated boarding house at 3820 Evangeline Drive in Chalmette, was also booked with possession of a small amount of marijuana and with possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of bond set at $27,250

Pohlmann said, “We take it seriously when a convicted sex offender fails to register with us if they come to St. Bernard Parish. By law we have the right to know where every registered sex offender is living in this parish and if they change addresses they must notify the Sheriff’s Office within 3 days. If they don’t do that, when we learn of it we apply for an arrest warrant from a judge and arrest them.’’

Pohlmann also said the Sheriff’s Office has been investigating residents’ complaints of illegally-operated boarding houses on both Evangeline Drive and Corrine Drive. A total of more than 15 people were living at the two houses and the operator had no occupational license to run a hotel or boarding house there. Also, neither neighborhood is zoned for such a business, Pohlmann said.

“We appreciate the cooperation and help we received from neighbors of the two areas involved,’’ Pohlmann said. “People shouldn’t have to live with illegally-operated boarding houses near them.’’

Sheriff’s officials met Jan. 6 with officials of St. Bernard Parish government, who advised they would be issuing cease and desist orders for the two houses, Pohlmann said.

Jan 5, 2010 - It was a safe and successful holiday season in St. Bernard Parish, with no armed robberies of businesses or residents, no major alcohol-related vehicle accidents and more people than usual asking for a free ride home from the Sheriff’s Office when they had been drinking, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

“From the things we measure, the holidays went smoothly and safely and that’s the way we like it,’’ said Pohlmann.

“Public safety is always our first concern and things went well in that regard over the Christmas-New Year’s period,’’ Pohlmann said.

There were no armed robberies or purse-snatchings, he said. “We had extra patrols in certain areas for a greater police presence to protect people who were out and about shopping and doing other things during the holiday period,’’ Pohlmann said.

“We also used our Sky Watch portable hydraulic tower, which rises more than 30 feet in the air and has a deputy sheriff inside its booth to scan crowd scenes, at a high-intensity shopping area so we could look for any trouble.’’

Pohlmann said he was glad to see that 26 people took advantage of the Sheriff’s Office free holiday ride home program from Thanksgiving to Jan. 2, the largest such number in years.  Anyone who has been drinking can call the Sheriff’s Office and get a free ride home, no questions asked. It was the 27th straight year St. Bernard’s Sheriff’s Office has offered the program, the longest in the New Orleans area.

Pohlmann said, “I believe people really are starting to realize that’s it’s not worth the risk of driving drunk and being arrested for a DWI or even worse, injuring someone else or yourself in a car crash.”

The Sheriff’s Office, which held at least six sobriety checkpoints in St. Bernard in the last six months to look for impaired drivers, will continue to vigorously enforce the law, Pohlmann said.

Jan 5, 2010 - A New Orleans man was arrested in Chalmette on Jan. 4, carrying nearly an ounce of crack cocaine and $1,300 cash in his vehicle and in a pants pocket, along with a handgun, some 20 pills, a small amount of marijuana and a scale found in the car trunk, Sheriff Jack A. Stephens said.

Gerald Etienne, 28, 1816 Alaba St., was stopped on traffic chargers by agents of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division, headed by Col. Chad Clark.

Agents smelled raw marijuana in the vehicle when they approached the car, the sheriff said, and when Etienne exited and was patted down for officers’ safety a bag containing 12 rock-like objects consistent with crack cocaine were found in a pocket. They later tested positive for cocaine.

Etienne, who has a previous criminal record, also had $1,300 cash on him.

The man denied he had any other contraband but consented to a search of the vehicle, in which a bag was found in the trunk containing 24 grams of crack cocaine, a fully loaded handgun, 2.3 grams of marijuana, 20 pills of the drug Carisoprodel and a digital scale, the sheriff said.

Etienne was booked with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of the marijuana, pills and drug paraphernalia, as traffic charges.

He was booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison but there wasn’t any bond information available.