During Mardi Gras teams of criminals came to the area and staked out in St. Tammany Parish intent on stealing cell phones from people during the celebrations.
A late as last night, a five man crew of criminals were caught by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Deputies pulling door handles and reportedly breaking into cars to loot them in the Bucktown area.
Police surprised the five, and three ran.
Two others jumped in a car and took off with the Deputies in pursuit.
One of the two opened fire on the deputies.
Ultimately they were all apprehended.
Four of the five men live in Orleans Parish, the fifth in Metairie.
This is the latest in an instance of criminals from one parish spilling over the parish line to commit crimes in a neighboring jurisdiction.
WWL spoke with Dr. John Penny, a professor and criminologist at Southern University of New Orleans.
“It’s not surprising to me to see an uptick in crime from across parishes,” the soft spoken academic says.
Penny says this type of crime is not just once or twice in a while, it is a growing problem, given how closely the developed areas of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are in relation to each other.
“We’re going to see spill over from one parish to another. The amazing thing about that is we’re just beginning to complain about it that feeling and the ramifications of that.”
Penny says a unified front from law enforcement is needed to answer the problem of travelling criminals.
“It doesn’t just call out for it, it cries out for it. A really innovative, creative kind of cooperative behavior that we should’ve been doing a long time ago. I think this just highlights the need for that.”
Of the five men arrested, all are Honduran nationals and longtime illegal immigrants who have lived here off the radar.
The men are all facing a number of charges stemming from the initial attempt to escape, the pursuit, the gunfire, and more.
