Citizen Crime Watch Blog

Slain NOPD officer’s funeral set for Friday
The Times-Picayune
by Brian Thevenot
Tuesday January 29, 2008, 7:55 PM

New Orleans police have announced funeral arrangements for officer Nicola Cotton, who was fatally wounded while on duty Monday morning.

A funeral Mass will be said Friday at noon at the New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 LaSalle St. Visitation is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon, said Officer Garry Flot, a department spokesman.
Cotton will be buried be at Greenwood Cemetary, 5200 Canal Blvd.

Cotton, 24, died at University Hospital on Monday morning from gunshot wounds suffered during a scuffle with a man whose family described him as a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of threats and violent behavior. She was a two-year member of the department.

Police booked Bernel Johnson, 44, with first-degree murder following the shooting. While he has not yet been formally charged, Johnson is being held without bond.

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Cop killing suspect held without bond
by The Times-Picayune
Tuesday January 29, 2008, 6:27 PM

By Gwen Filosa
Staff writer

Bernel P. Johnson, 44, the man accused of shooting dead a New Orleans police officer with her own gun on Monday, appeared briefly in court Tuesday evening and was ordered held without bond.

Johnson was booked with the Monday murder of Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, who was shot dead after struggling with a man in a Central City parking lot. …

No mention was made of whether Johnson had a criminal record at the Tuesday hearing. Johnson’s only prior arrest in Orleans Parish was in 1989, when he was booked at Charity Hospital on Tulane Avenue with trespassing and simple battery, both misdemeanors typically handed at municipal court.

The Kenner police arrested Johnson four times for disturbing the peace between December 2005 and Nov. 19, 2007, a detective there said. Kenner police also arrested Johnson in 2006 for violation of a protective order.

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PROFILE OF A MURDER
The Times-Picayune
Cop-killing suspect Bernel Johnson’s journey through the mental health system taught him to manipulate it
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Laura Maggi

Three weeks before he allegedly killed a New Orleans police officer, Bernel Johnson, whose family described him as a paranoid schizophrenic, was forcibly committed to a mental institution by the New Orleans coroner’s office after he created a disturbance at a local bank.

“It was clear to me at that time that he was suffering from a psychotic illness,” said Dr. Jeffrey Rouse, the deputy psychiatric coroner who saw Johnson that day and ordered the commitment, which allows a medical institution to hold a person against his or her will for up to 15 days.

Yet the institution, which the coroner could not name because of medical privacy laws, released Johnson days later, an episode experts said underscores severe shortages in acute mental health care in Louisiana, even for potentially violent patients. …

Mental health cases took on a renewed urgency in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as the city’s infrastructure lay shattered and stress levels soared. Beds were scare, providers were overworked and facilities were flooded.

A knife-wielding mental patient was fatally shot by police in a standoff on St. Charles Avenue in December 2005. In May 2006, a 46-year-old Algiers man with a history of mental problems was killed in a standoff and gunfight with police at his home. In March, a National Guardsmen fatally shot a 53-year-old frequent patient at mental hospitals after the man brandished a rusted, black metal BB gun inside his family’s storm-shattered and gutted house.

Dealing with mentally ill patients provides a particular challenge to police, one that is often unpredictable and unnerving.

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Email Blast
NOPD 2nd District

On January 27th at or about 5:30 pm, the victim was washing his car in front of his residence located in the 800 block of Aline Street . A black male subject approached him and asked for directions. When the victim related that he did not know where the street was located, the black male subject pulled out a wad of money and started flipping through it – stating “maybe we are both lost”. The subject then walked away. Within moments, a second black male approached the victim. The second subject pushed an unknown object into the victim’s ribs and demanded his money. The victim did not see a weapon. He told the subject that he did not have any money on his person. The subject then fled on foot towards Magazine. Suspect #1 is a 24-25 year old black male, 5’10”, 160 lbs., wearing blue jeans and a white jacket. Suspect #2 is described as a 24-25 year old black male, 6’0”, 250 lbs., clean shaven, heavy build, with a tattoo on his neck.

If you have any further information on this case, please contact Sgt. Chris Cambiotti or Det. Jerry Baldwin at 658-6022 or 658-6020. You may also call Crimestoppers anonymously at 822-1111.

Remember to report any suspicious persons or activities you see in your neighborhood by calling 821-2222. In an emergency, call 911 immediately.

Major Kirk Bouyelas
Second District Commander
New Orleans Police Department

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Email Blast
NOPD 2nd District

On January 28th at or about 5:30 am, the victim was walking in the 4800 block of Annunciation after leaving a bar on Tchoupitoulas Street . He was approached by a group of three to four black males. One of the males asked what was in the box he was holding. The victim related it was chicken. Another subject removed a handgun and proceeded to rob the victim of $450 in cash. The incident was not immediately reported. The suspects are described as 14-17 year old black males, unknown further.

If you have any further information on this case, please contact Sgt. Chris Cambiotti or Det. Jerry Baldwin at 658-6022 or 658-6020. You may also call Crimestoppers anonymously at 822-1111.

Remember to report any suspicious persons or activities you see in your neighborhood by calling 821-2222. In an emergency, call 911 immediately.

Major Kirk Bouyelas
Second District Commander
New Orleans Police Department

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Email Blast
NOPD 2nd District

On January 27th at or about 5:30 pm, officers were dispatched to the 3600 block of Danneel Street on a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found 21 year old Henry Butler IV lying in a rear yard. He sustained at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Note: Docket Master records (http://www.opcso.org/dcktmstr/dmdspmag.php?&domagn=485598) indicate that Butler was arrested on Jan. 8th for drug charges. He was given a $6,000 bond and subsequently released.

If you have any further information on this case, please contact Sgt. Chris Cambiotti or Det. Doug Butler at 658-6022 or 658-6020. You may also call Crimestoppers anonymously at 822-1111.

Remember to report any suspicious persons or activities you see in your neighborhood by calling 821-2222. In an emergency, call 911 immediately.

Major Kirk Bouyelas
Second District Commander
New Orleans Police Department

N.O. cop killed with own gun
by The Times-Picayune
Monday January 28, 2008, 9:57 PM

By Brendan McCarthy, Laura Maggi and Mary Sparacello
Staff writers

A New Orleans police officer was fatally shot Monday morning in Central City by a man who police initially called a possible rape suspect, but who relatives said is a paranoid schizophrenic transient with no history of sexual assault.

On Monday morning, officer Nicola Cotton, 24, approached a middle-aged man sitting in the parking lot a Central City strip of stores, Police Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said. Police Superintendent Warren Riley said the man appeared homeless.

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Young officer devoted to work
by The Times-Picayune
Monday January 28, 2008, 8:43 PM

By Laura Maggi
Staff writer

Nicola Cotton was the kind of person who always had time for a friendly chat, even if she was hurrying off, friends and neighbors said Monday night at a vigil held in honor of the slain New Orleans police officer outside the apartment building where she lived.

Cotton, 24, was a devoted police officer, known around the Pontchartrain Oaks apartments in eastern New Orleans as somebody who had time for her neighbors, said Wanda Santa Marina, another resident.

“She was just a beautiful person,” Santa Marina said after lighting a candle in front of Cotton’s door. The doorway was crowded with teddy bears, candles, flowers and cards. The door bore a handwritten sign that read, “We love you Nicole.”

Many residents recalled that Cotton could often be seen walking her dog, a black Labrador retriever named London, around the complex and spoke with pride about her chosen profession. Her mother had recently come from Memphis for a visit, said Hope Brown, the apartment’s resident manager.

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Female NOPD officer shot to death, suspect in custody
by The Times-Picayune
Monday January 28, 2008, 12:00 PM

Cops have arrested a suspect in the morning shooting death of a female New Orleans Police officer in a parking lot in Central City.

Police are expected to bring Bernell Johnson, 44, to the Orleans Parish Central Lock-Up on Monday afternoon.

In a 11:45 a.m. press conference, Police Chief Warren Riley said a rape suspect, who the officer was attempting to handcuff, resisted and struggled with the 24-year-old officer. After a tussle lasting about seven minutes, the suspect grabbed the officer’s weapon and shot her multiple times.

Police are not releasing the officer’s name because they have not yet been able to reach her relatives in Memphis. They did say the officer was hired in June 2005. Major Mike Glasser, the commander of the 7th District, said the officer recently spent about two months working with new recruits assigned to patrol eastern New Orleans. She had transferred back to the 6th District, less than two weeks ago.

“This is a very difficult and sad day for the New Orleans Police Deaprtment,” Riley said, standing outside University Hospital where the officer was taken after the shooting. Riley described the officer as “well respected and clean-cut.”

The officer was patroling alone, without a partner. Riley said many officers patrol by themselves. The morning slaying, which took place around 10:00 am in the 2100 block of Earhart Boulevard, happened this way, Riley said:

The officer responded to a call about a man who was possibly wanted for rape, finding him in the parking lot. She stopped her patrol vehicle, approached the suspect and began questioning him. He was sitting down, and when she reached out to handcuff him, he pushed her away. During the struggle, the officer lost control of her radio, but she was able to recover it and call for backup. The suspect, who Riley described as twice the officer’s size, then grabbed her weapon and shot her multiple times.

Other police officers who heard the call for back-up arrived on the scene about two minutes after she was shot, Riley said. The suspect stayed on the scene, with the officer’s .40 caliber Glock still in his hand, and was apprehended by police, the chief said.

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Jury sends rapist to jail for life
Man, 21, kidnapped New Orleans children
The Times-Picayune
Sunday, January 27, 2008
By Gwen Filosa

Kendrich Thomas will spend the rest of his life in prison for raping a 10-year-old boy in 2005 during a three-week span in which he snatched two other children from the streets of New Orleans, a jury decided Saturday night.

Thomas, 21, will receive the state’s mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for aggravated rape and will also face additional prison time for attempted rape, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and indecent behavior with a juvenile. …

Life in prison is the choice that Thomas made, prosecutor Margaret Parker countered.

“He made a choice to prey on children,” she said. “His actions imposed a life sentence on five young boys. He threw away their keys. They will endure a nightmare whenever they see a black Cadillac Escalade.”

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Comment: A reasonable argument could be made that Thomas was himself a victim of the juvenile detention system, having been held in the criticized Talullah facility. Nevertheless, in life we are always given the freedom to choose how we will treat others. Were it not so, we would be mere animals, not mortals capable of greater compassion. Thomas represents the worst of what humans are capable of doing. He hunted down children to prey upon them. As a society, we have to deal with the societal and institutional circumstances we may have allowed which contributed to Thomas’ deviance. At the end of the day, however, no one but Thomas can be held to consequence for the choice he made to behave as he did.

Email Blast
NOPD 2nd District

On January 26th at or about 5:50 pm, the victim was outside his residence with a friend in the 700 block of Napoleon Avenue . The victim and the friend became involved in a verbal altercation which quickly became physical. The friend pulled out a steak knife from his pocket and stabbed the victim. Responding officers apprehended the perpetrator, who was identified as Michael Jones (WM, 6/22/62). Jones was arrested without incident. The victim sustained a non life threatening stab wound. He was treated and released from a local hospital.

If you have any further information on this case, please contact Sgt. Chris Cambiotti or Det. George Waguespack at 658-6022 or 658-6020. You may also call Crimestoppers anonymously at 822-1111.

Remember to report any suspicious persons or activities you see in your neighborhood by calling 821-2222. In an emergency, call 911 immediately.

Major Kirk Bouyelas
Second District Commander
New Orleans Police Department

Crimestoppers ups ante for high-profile fugitive
George suspect in several robberies, double murder
The Times-Picayune
Friday, January 25, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy

Local authorities said Thursday that the reward for information leading to the arrest of a man implicated in several New Orleans armed robberies and two killings has been increased.

Eldrin George, 18, formerly of the 3000 block of Touro Street, is one of the city’s highest-profile fugitives.

Police have linked him to a handful of Uptown armed robberies, a robbery in Jefferson Parish and a double murder in Central City on Christmas. …

Crimestoppers, the nonprofit agency in Metairie, increased its reward to $7,500 from its typical $2,500. New Orleans police Sgt. Daniel McMullen said Thursday that a witness in the Central City shooting of six people has identified George in a photo lineup as the shooter. Police have linked him and one or two others to the shooting, which left two people dead. …

McMullen said police need witnesses to come forward. He said George apparently has left New Orleans, probably fleeing to Atlanta, Houston or Baton Rouge. …

George’s alleged accomplice, Terrell Anderson, 18, was arrested and booked last week on charges of armed robbery, simple robbery and assault, according to court records.

Anyone with information that can help solve this crime are asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111 or toll-free (877) 903-STOP(7867). All calls are anonymous, and the reward is not paid by police personnel.

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Judges rescind catch and release
Minor offenders could stay in jail
The Times-Picayune
Thursday, January 24, 2008
By Laura Maggi

People arrested for minor offenses like public intoxication will no longer be eligible for automatic release from the Orleans Parish central lockup, as the Criminal District Court judges this week rescinded an order meant to free up jail beds for more serious offenders.

The immediate impact of the decision was unclear, although August data for the jail facilities run by the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office showed that two buildings were consistently overcrowded. But Judge Paul Sens, chief judge at Orleans Parish Municipal Court, noted that the policy change comes just a couple of weeks before the weekend prior to Mardi Gras, the busiest time of year for minor arrests in New Orleans.

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Trial begins in rapes, kidnaps
Man allegedly took boys on N.O. street
The Times-Picayune
Thursday, January 24, 2008
By Gwen Filosa

After an hourlong opening statement Wednesday by prosecutors describing Kendrich Thomas as a serial rapist of boys, defense attorneys in Orleans Parish Criminal Court started to tell the jury of their client’s years in Louisiana’s troubled juvenile prison system.

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