Citizen Crime Watch Blog

NOPD official to be deputy chief
Bouyelas to replace retiring Cannatella
Thursday, May 29, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy
The Times-Picayune

The New Orleans Police Department’s commander of the Uptown district will be promoted Friday to the agency’s third-highest position as head of its operations bureau.

Major Kirk Bouyelas, a veteran officer and administrator who took over the helm of the 2nd District early last year, will be responsible, starting Sunday, for overseeing all patrol officers and specialized units, Superintendent Warren Riley said.

Bouyelas will be sworn in as a deputy chief in a ceremony Friday, Riley said. He will be the third deputy chief to hold the position in the past 18 months.

Bouyelas replaces Deputy Chief Anthony Cannatella, who will retire Friday, ending a 42-year police career.

Bouyelas is one of the department’s more computer-savvy officials. He was one of the earliest adopters of the department’s computerized composite sketches in the late 1990s. More recently, he initiated a popular “e-mail blast” system, providing crime and arrest updates to community groups in the 2nd District.

When a major crime occurred or a suspect developed in a case, Bouyelas wrote a brief dispatch and sent the e-mail to a select number of community group leaders, who then disseminated the news to their members.

Riley said Bouyelas has done a “great job” in the 2nd District, which patrols one of the most densely populated areas.

“He follows the community policing philosophy,” Riley said, who called Bouyelas a strategic thinker. Riley noted that Bouyelas previously worked as an assistant to two other deputy chiefs and is familiar with the job. His replacement will be named Friday, Riley said.

The superintendent also praised Cannatella, a well-known, longtime fixture in the agency.

“He has been an icon in the police department,” Riley said.

FBI raids hit French Quarter
Anti-terror task force leads ‘ongoing’ probe
Thursday, May 29, 2008
By Leslie Williams

The Federal Bureau of Investigation — as part of a multi-agency anti-terrorism task force that includes the IRS — went to “multiple locations” in the French Quarter on Wednesday morning “in furtherance of an ongoing criminal investigation,” said FBI spokeswoman Sheila Thorne.

No one was arrested Wednesday morning, said Thorne, who declined to provide information about whether anyone had been detained or records had been seized. Thorne further declined to detail the reason an anti-terrorism task force conducted the raids, which she said started at about 9 a.m.

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Deputies booked in jail scheme
They tried to smuggle in pot, reports show
Thursday, May 29, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy

Two Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the jail have been booked on a slew of charges after they allegedly tried distributing drugs to an inmate inside the facility, according Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s office.

A third person, a local woman, was also booked for allegedly supplying a deputy with marijuana, which he in turn tried to distribute to an inmate.

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Comment: A question — how were inmates paying for the drugs? What other activities were involved in the drug trade?

Diner owner beaten, robbed at home
Assailant knew her name, family says
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
By Chris Kirkham

The owner of popular Mid-City diner Betsy’s Pancake House is being treated for multiple broken bones after being beaten and robbed inside her Marrero home early Monday, authorities and family members said.

Someone who apparently knew Betsy McDaniel, 72, broke into her home in the 5200 block of Warwick Drive about 3:30 a.m., forced her to open a safe that held cash, and began punching and kicking her, according to family members who spoke with her Monday. McDaniel suffered a concussion, a fractured skull, three broken ribs and a broken hand, her family said.

“She said, ‘They almost killed me,’ ” said McDaniel’s daughter, Mary Murdock, who lives next door and manages the restaurant. “That’s what she kept saying.”

Family members said McDaniel told them the assailant specifically called her by name and threatened to kill “Ladybug,” a nickname for Murdock, if she did not open the safe. She told her family she did not recognize her attacker.

McDaniel had not been able to notify 911 before Murdock made the routine wake-up call at 4:10 a.m., to prepare for the restaurant’s 5:30 a.m. opening. When she picked up the phone, she told Murdock she had been robbed and beaten.

Emergency responders arrived at 4:20 a.m. and brought her to West Jefferson Medical Center, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. McDaniel was in the intensive care unit late Monday, family members said.

After looking through McDaniel’s home, family members said it appeared that all the money in the safe was stolen, along with the money in McDaniel’s wallet.

Murdock and her daughter, Brandy Dykes, who lives a block away, said they think McDaniel was hit over the head with an object, then repeatedly kicked and punched.

“She’s hurting really bad, but the doctors said she should be fine,” Dykes said. “She’s a lot tougher than people take her for.”

McDaniel has owned Betsy’s Pancake House since it opened in 1986. The restaurant did not open Monday.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call burglary detective Myron Gaudet of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office at (504) 364-5300 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

NOPD agrees to provide police reports to newspaper
by The Times-Picayune
Friday May 23, 2008, 8:01 PM

The New Orleans Police Department agreed Friday to make incident reports available after they are approved by a shift supervisor, settling a court dispute with The Times-Picayune over how long it should take before the public can see the reports.

The department had contended that the reports should be shielded from public view until they arrived at a records room in police headquarters, a process that can take two weeks.

The newspaper said the reports are public records as soon as they are written. Generally, an officer writes the reports before his or her shift is over.

State law says that initial incident reports are public records and it includes a list of details they are supposed to contain, such as the location of the crime and a description of what happened. Other documents, such as reports from detectives on the status of their investigations, are shielded from public view and the newspaper did not seek those in its suit.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Police Department is allowed to contend that some sensitive details of a police report may be exempt from public view. In those instances, the department must provide a copy of the document that omits those details.

The newspaper sued the department over a variety of public access issues April 18.

The Police Department agreed to comply with other public records requests from the newspaper, most of which sought crime statistics.

Under state law, the losing party in a public records dispute must pay the winner’s legal fees. As part of their deal, the newspaper and the Police Department agreed to try to resolve the question of what legal fees are owed to The Times-Picayune. If they cannot agree, the issue will be decided by Civil District Judge Kern Reese, who approved the settlement Friday.

Traffic, municipal court building to reopen
by Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune
Friday May 23, 2008, 8:10 PM

Mayor Ray Nagin, local judges and others on Friday pronounced the city’s storm-damaged traffic and municipal courts building fixed and nearly fit to re-enter service after almost three years of vacancy and $5.6 million in repairs.

The announcement actually was about three weeks early. Operations in the building are expected to resume June 16, returning four Municipal Court divisions and two divisions of Traffic Court to their permanent home at the corner of South Broad and Gravier streets.

A brief late-morning ceremony marked a success in a painstaking effort by the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair critical infrastructure wrecked by Hurricane Katrina.

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Cold-case killings solved, cops say
Suspects include man who shot mom, girl
Thursday, May 22, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy

The New Orleans Police Department announced Wednesday that the homicide division’s cold case unit has cleared a handful of years-old cases this week, including the 2005 murder of a 10-year-old girl and her mother. The cold-case section — comprised of a handful of detectives and a lone supervisor — have identified suspects in five separate murders, according to a department news release.

In four of the cases, the main suspects recently died, meaning the case was “cleared by exception.” In one case, the suspect was arrested on unrelated charges and re-booked for the murder charge, according to police.

The case clearances are as follows:

– Robert C. Hurst, 34, was identified as the gunman in the 2005 murder of Tefany Dickerson, 32, and Ta’lasia Dickerson, 10. Each had been shot once in the head inside their home in the 3100 block of Leonidas Street in Hollygrove. Hurst was fatally shot last month in the 1300 block of Gallier Street.

– Jerod Woods, 35, was named responsible for the 1999 murder of Heiu Trinh, 22. Woods was murdered in January 2000.

– Ever Espinoz was identified as the suspect in the April 2005 murder of Mario Soli, 46, who was shot on the doorstep of Las Islas Lounge, 4061 Tulane Ave. Espinoz recently died in Honduras.

– Kishon Bovia, 23, was booked in the 2007 murder of Cedric Johnson. Bovia is in custody on unrelated charges and will be rebooked with second-degree murder, according to police.

– Jessie “TuTu” Reed and Darnell P. Stewart, are allegedly responsible for the December 2007 slaying of George “Cup” Hankton III, 40. Two other men were also shot in the incident. Reed, 25, is in custody on unrelated charges and will be rebooked with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Stewart, 23, was killed last week in the 3400 block of South Claiborne Avenue. Police allege Hankton’s relatives — Andre Hankton, 30, and Telly Hankton, 31 — killed Stewart.

The department noted that its cold case division has open files dating back 20 years.

“As a result, of the hard work and dedication of the Cold Case detectives, these suspects were brought to justice,” the news release stated. “If new evidence is developed, that leads to the identification of a suspect, no matter how old the case these individuals will be arrested and the cases will be presented to the District Attorney’s office for prosecution.”

Bonds held on $750,000 bond; his lawyers want hearing in June
by Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune
Wednesday May 21, 2008, 2:13 PM

David Bonds: Being held on $750,000 bond.

David Bonds, the 19-year-old New Orleans man freed by a jury last month from the murder charge related to Dinerral Shavers’ 2006 homicide, was ordered held on $750,000 bond today on another shooting allegation.

Bonds, who turned 19 on May 7, was booked Tuesday with attempted murder in connection with the May 4 shooting of a 25-year-old man in the city’s downtown. The shooting took place 24 days after Bonds left Orleans Parish Criminal District Court a free man no longer charged with the murder of the popular musician.

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U.S. Attorney General pledges more support for New Orleans
by Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune
Monday May 19, 2008, 2:55 PM

The New Orleans region is in pressing need of mental health and drug treatment support in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, said U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday, after meeting with police officers and viewing the spots where the levee failures that poured agony across the city.

“It is very difficult to get those services,” said Mukasey, of those suffering from addiction and mental illnesses. “As a result, a lot of what otherwise would be productive time of police officers is taken up by having to take people to emergency rooms and sit and wait for beds to open up and so forth.” …

The federal grants included $300,000 to the Family Justice Center, a post-Katrina effort to provide under one roof legal services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Catholic Charities runs the center, which is assisted by Tulane University Law School.

More than $1.7 million will go to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement for domestic violence programs across the state.

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Orleans Parish jail doesn’t meet accreditation standards
by Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune
Sunday May 18, 2008, 9:31 PM

The Orleans Parish jail facilities don’t meet accreditation standards set by a nonprofit correctional health organization, which has pointed out both a lack of sufficient mental health counselors and failure to complete initial health examinations within the required time period.

The National Commission on Correctional Health Care reviewed the facilities and practices last fall and pinpointed needed improvements before the jail can reclaim accreditation, first awarded in 1993 when the jail was run by former Sheriff Charles Foti.

“We certainly want to get it,” Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who runs the jail, said this week. “Although we’ve been through a lot, we are still providing great quality health care that exceeds community standards.”

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