Passenger killed in crash where driver was going at least 100 mph on St. Bernard Parkway when the car went off the road, flipped and struck a house; 3 juveniles and driver injured; Probe continuing

St. Bernard Det. Sgt. Jeff Vega examines underneath the overturned Camaro that crashed into a home on St. Bernard Parkway Saturday night, killing a passenger and damaging the house. A tire from the car is in the foreground.

Resident B.J. Hartman, right, and landlord Burton Cosse look at damage inside her residence after the incident. Hartman was home with her husband, C.J. , when the car struck the house. Neither were injured.

A Violet man who was a passenger in a car being driven at least 100 mph Saturday night, July 13, was killed in a crash on St. Bernard Parkway near the Plaquemines Parish line when the car went off the road and flipped, glanced a tree and struck a house, State Police and Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Victor Major, 46, of Violet, was partially ejected from the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and was dead at the scene of the accident which happened just after 10:30 p.m. on the two-lane St. Bernard Parkway, State Police from Troop B said. The vehicle was being driven north from Plaquemines Parish, authorities said. Major wasn’t restrained in the seat, authorities said.

Three juvenile girls ages 4, 10 and 11, who were buckled in rear seats, were hospitalized with injuries, as well as the driver, Samuel Hampton Jr., 38 of Violet, who was wearing a seat belt. All four were transported to the Interim LSU Hospital Level 1 Trauma Center with moderate injuries.

Preliminary investigation revealed the Camaro ran off the road to the right into a ditch, causing the vehicle to overturn and strike a residence, State Police said. Impairment is suspected as a factor of the crash and blood was taken from Hampton and will be submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, authorities said. He could face a felony vehicular homicide charge in the death of Major.

Just before the crash, a Plaquemines Parish sheriff’s deputy had advised St. Bernard authorities by radio that a black Camaro being driven at more than 100 mph was headed toward St. Bernard, Sherff Pohlmann said.

The Camaro struck a house in the 700 block of St. Bernard Highway, just north of the Plaquemines Parish line. Resident B.J. Hartman and her husband, C.J. Hartman said they weren’t injured, but severely shaken by the incident.

B.J. Hartman said she was on a living room sofa when she heard “the most frightening sound’’ she ever heard as the vehicle approached and crashed into a side of her rented home. “It was worse than anything I have ever heard’’ she said on the scene. Their residence received major damage inside and to the exterior.

Numerous St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies and firefighters responded to the accident.

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Man arrested as accessory to March murder in which a man was brought to Chalmette and killed; Second suspect already booked with murder; probe ongoing

“Fatt’’ Madison, 31,indicted for first-degree murder in Jones’ death

Murder victim Herman “Peanut” Jones, 33

A New Orleans man has been arrested as an accessory to murder in the March 16 shooting death of a man brought to Chalmette and killed, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

A second suspect was booked with the murder in April and is being held under $1 million bond in St. Bernard Parish Prison.

Joseph Guillory, 34, who moved to the New Orleans area several years ago but has no permanent address, the sheriff said, is being held as an accessory to the killing of Herman “Peanut’’ Jones Jr., 33, of the New Orleans area.

Guillory is jailed in Parish Prison in lieu of bond set at $250,000. A U.S. Marshal’s Service task force found Guillory in the French Quarter on July 10 and he was arrested on a warrant signed by a St. Bernard judge after a Sheriff’s Office investigation, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

James “Fatt’’ Madison, 31, of New Orleans, was arrested for second-degree murder in the killing of Jones in mid-April after an investigation by sheriff’s detectives which eventually led to him in Memphis, Tenn.

A St. Bernard Parish grand jury recently indicted Madison on a first-degree murder charge, a higher charge than he was initially booked with.

Guillory, a known associate of Madison, the sheriff said, was a passenger in the vehicle which was driven to Chalmette the night of March 16 in which Jones was taken out and shot by Madison, Sheriff Pohlmann said. Jones’ body was found the next morning on a street in an industrial area north of Paris Road, near the east New Orleans parish line, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Jones was shot several times at the scene.

Information developed by sheriff’s detectives led to Madison and now Guillorty. the sheriff said.

“We have identified a motive for the killing of Mr. Jones but aren’t going to reveal it at this time,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. The investigation is ongoing, he said.

“We devoted a tremendous amount of manpower to solving this murder,’’ the sheriff said. “The victim wasn’t from St. Bernard but that made no difference to us. We went as far as we had to go to solve a murder.’’

He said that when Madison was interviewed by sheriff’s detectives in Memphis before his arrest for murder, Madison acknowledged knowing the victim and being with him in New Orleans the night of March 16, less than an hour before Jones was murdered.

“We conducted an investigation that took us to New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and eventually to Memphis and we were aided by New Orleans Police, Kenner Police, Louisiana State Police, the Shelby County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office, Memphis Police and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.’’

“We obtained video footage from the area of the murder scene,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said, “and was able to identify a vehicle used to bring Mr. Jones to the spot where he was killed.” That vehicle was recovered in Kenner in late March, brought to St. Bernard and has been processed for forensic evidence that was given to the State Police crime lab, the sheriff said.

The sheriff also said detectives acquired video surveillance from French Quarter businesses from the night of the killing which has assisted in the investigation.

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Man called eastern St. Bernard’s “most notorious drug-dealer’’ and who has served several prison terms is arrested again on narcotics counts

Crack and powder cocaine, marijuana and pills seized in Jerrell Maxon arrest

Jerrell Maxon, called eastern St. Bernard’s “most notorious drug dealer.

Jerrell Maxon, who has served several prison stints and sheriff’s officials have called eastern St. Bernard Parish’s “most notorious drug-dealer’’ has been arrested again on charges involving crack and powder cocaine, marijuana and pills, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Maxon, 39, raised in St. Bernard and despite moving to eastern New Orleans several years ago still frequents the parish, was arrested Tuesday, July 9, at 2810 Stacie Drive in Violet, the home of Jaleshia Garner, 22, identified as a girlfriend, the sheriff said.

A large stash of narcotics, including 38 grams of crack cocaine – or 1.3 ounces – in 22 baggies and 3.2 grams of powder cocaine in five bags, as well as 39 grams of marijuana in 27 bags, 18 Soma muscle-relaxers and three pain pills were found there after a judge signed a search warrant, the sheriff said.

The narcotics had a street valued of just under $4,400.

Sheriff Pohlmann said recent investigations of Maxon by the Sheriff’s Office, New Orleans police and a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force concluded Maxon “is a major cocaine distributor in the New Orleans metro area and conducts most of his business in St. Bernard Parish.’’

The sheriff added, “He has an extensive criminal history of arrests for drugs dating to a 1995 arrest for cocaine possession and has served at least three prison terms for drug convictions in the past, two of which were in St. Bernard Parish.’’

Maxon, who lives at 1107 Montique St. in New Orleans, could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Maj. Chad Clark, head of the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division including the Narcotics Unit, called Maxon “the most notorious drug- dealer’’ in the Violet area in eastern St. Bernard Parish, distributing to others who supply drugs in the parish.

Sheriff Pohlmann said SID, which has been investigating Maxon’s drug activities for an extended period, found the cocaine and marijuana in bags inside a concealment device, which was a metal oil can with a false bottom and was located outside, near the front door.

The pills were found in two baggies in Maxon’s pants pockets.

It was estimated the drugs had the following street values: $3,800 for the crack, $300 for the powder cocaine, $135 for the marijuana and $120 for the pills. A scale and packaging material for selling the drugs were also found.

Garner and two other women were also arrested. Several juvenile children in the house were released to immediate family members.

Maxon and Garner were both booked with possession with intent to distribute crack, powder cocaine and marijuana, and with possession of controlled substances in the presence of juveniles and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also was booked on the pill counts.

Maxon was being held in St. Bernard Prison in lieu of $100,000 bond and she was jailed in lieu of $20,000 bond.

Anyone who suspects illegal drug activity in St. Bernard Parish should call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501 or the sheriff’s Dope Hotline at (504) 271-DOPE.

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Registration open for new free sessions of Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy which starts Aug. 28; Call 278-7628; 600 residents have attended since 1999

There’s no better way to learn about law enforcement than the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy, which is free, held in Chalmette and participants will learn about what police work entails in the parish, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Parish residents who want to know more about St. Bernard law enforcement and ask questions to officers should register for the free, 12-week Citizens Police Academy sessions which begin Aug. 28.

Call Capt. Charles Borchers at (504) 278-7628 to register. Classes will meet each Wednesday at 7 p.m. through graduation night in November. They will be held in the sheriff’s 2nd-floor Training Center in a parish government building at 2118 Jackson Ave. in Chalmette, immediately behind the Courthouse. The Assessor’s Office is in the same building.

Borchers, head of Community Relations for the Sheriff’s Office, runs the Citizens Police Academy classes and coordinates Neighborhood Watch programs and the National Night Out Against Crime event for the department. Anyone who wants to start a neighborhood Watch on their street, hold a Night Out against Crime get-together or apply for the sheriff’s Reserve Division should also call Borchers.

Sheriff Pohlmann said, “Our Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy classes will answer a lot of the questions you may have about law enforcement here and why things are done the way they are.’’ Graduates, he said, become “ambassadors for law enforcement because they have a vested interest in what happens in St. Bernard.’’

He also said there are frank discussions about specifics of law enforcement in St. Bernard and in addition to asking questions residents can give their in-put.

Any resident who has attended sheriff’s lectures on how to avoid being a victim of crime would find the citizens Police Academy another interesting learning tool, Pohlmann said.

Some 600 parish residents have graduated the Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy in St. Bernard since its inception in 1999.

There are numerous features to the Citizens Police Academy program which participants say they enjoy, such as:

– Hearing from sheriff’s commanders on various phases of law enforcement including patrol work, narcotics enforcement, detective duties, SWAT team demonstrations.
– Receiving boating safety tips.
– Experiencing a firearms simulator program which has participants react to computerized scenarios which ask them to make split-second decisions on whether to shoot a criminal defendant.
– Hands-on demonstrations of equipment including the new sheriff’s high-water truck purchased with a grant and used in rain events, weapons and a robot used for checking suspicious items are also part of the program – On-site tours of Parish Prison and the new renovated parish Courthouse.
– Lectures from law enforcement agencies from outside St. Bernard

The classes will feature speakers from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and are geared to fostering good relations between the community and law enforcement.

This is the sixth class for the Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy since Hurricane Katrina and more than 170 people have graduated those five sessions, said Borchers.

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Sheriff’s Message on First Year in Office

How quickly a year passes.

It hardly seems it was a year ago, July 1, 2012, when I was sworn in as sheriff of St. Bernard Parish and Richard Baumy took his oath of office as Chief Deputy, the position I had held under retired Sheriff Jack A. Stephens.

It was a year in which we accomplished many things and fulfilled pledges made to the public.

And, of course, we owe a debt of gratitude to the people of St. Bernard Parish who have stood by the Sheriff’s Office over the past year. Thank you for supporting law enforcement.

I promised we would increase the number of sheriff’s deputies patrolling this parish. Our hiring process for that is in full swing and it won’t be long before there are more deputies on the streets.

I felt the command staff we put in place a year ago and the rank structure we adopted would serve as well for the future. I am pleased with those results.

I also promised this department would be all about training our men and women in the latest information they need to be effective and stay up-to-date in firearms use and tactics. We have lived up to that.

Maj. David DiMaggio, director of training, has continually scheduled Webinars – training sessions by Internet – in subject after subject for our personnel, using our training room, in the building at 2118 Jackson Blvd. We have also had deputies attend training offered in other parts of the state.

We have increased our training department. Det. Lt. Raymond Theriot has been added as assistant training director.

And we offer deputies constant refresher courses on topics such as dealing with an active-shooter situation or an intruder in a school. Our SWAT team practices regularly to be ready for special situations.

We also concentrate on pro-active efforts like narcotics enforcement, knowing if you get some handle on drugs you decrease property crimes, which are fueled by addicts robbing or stealing to get their next fix.

The public has the right to expect we will suppress crime as best we can to give you a parish where you can raise a family and live a life free of fear. That’s what we try to do.

But, as ever, we continue to need your help and rely on residents to be our first eyes in their neighborhood because you know what does and doesn’t look right in your area.

Call us at (504) 271-2501 if you see anything suspicious. We promise if it turns out to be nothing, we won’t be angry. We want to have the chance to check out anything that doesn’t feel right to you.

Good cooperation between the community, businesses and the Sheriff’s Office has and always will exist in this parish. Timely calls by witnesses lead to arrests and we are fortunate to have residents willing to report what they see.

Let’s look to the future and think about how we can rid our community of crime, as best we can.

With help from the government we will be rebuilding full sub-stations at the entrances to our parish in Arabi on St. Claude Avenue and West Judge Perez Drive. We believe that in the past they have served a function as a deterrent to crime because anyone entering the parish to commit a crime knows they will have to pass a police station to leave afterward.

We are exploring possibilities of using crime cameras in certain areas, something that might help in specific applications.

Also, my suggestion to our residents is to get and stay involved.

It should start at home. That means, first of all, talk to your children all the time. Learn if there is anything bothering them – bullying by someone at school or in the neighborhood, or whether they are changing in ways that could indicate a problem.

See if they have lost interest in things they have always enjoyed, like sports, reading, bicycling, dancing.

Notice if they are hanging out with different kids, and whether you know all their friends. Changes might not mean much. Or it could indicate they are trying drugs and may need help from you.

Try to maintain control over the amount of time your kids spend on social networking sites and whether they are meeting with people they didn’t know except through the Internet. Problems can develop quickly when strangers are involved.

If you have time, think about a Neighborhood Watch group in your area. Call Capt. Charles Borchers at 278-7628 if you want to do that or to sign up for our free Citizens Police Academy or hold a neighborhood party for National Out Against Crime i9n October.

It helps when neighbors talk, you learn you have things in common – like caring about your street and looking out for others as you hope they look out for you.

As I go about our parish I engage people to see how they feel and hope you come up to speak with me.

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One man booked in two burglaries of a house and a fireworks stand; Separately, a second man booked in a car break-in

Corey Campbell, held on $41,000 bond in car burglary.

Keithrone Griffin, held on $20,000 bond in two burglaries.

A total of three burglaries were cleared by sheriff’s patrol deputies with the arrests of two men; one who had broken into a Chalmette residence and a fireworks stand within minutes of each other, while separately a second man was arrested after a foot chase following the burglary of a car in Chalmette, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Keithrone Griffin, 22, 6537 C Street, Violet, was arrested June 26 and booked initially with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling on Jupiter Drive in Chalmette and resisting an officer, the sheriff said. After he was jailed, Griffin was re-booked with another burglary that night, of a fireworks stand on Paris Road in which $300 in fireworks were stolen.

Several packs of fireworks were found on Griffin at St. Bernard Parish Prison after his arrest for the residence burglary and he fit the description of a man seen walking near the stand before the burglary was discovered. Griffin said he had found the fireworks on the ground, but a representative of the fireworks business identified him as the man he saw near the stand before the burglary was discovered.

Deputy Jonathan Smith made both arrests on Griffin, who is being held in Parish Prison in lieu of $20,000 bond in the cases.

In the unrelated case, Corey Campbell, 37, 3309 Angelique Drive, Violet, was booked June 23 with vehicle burglary after a window was busted out on a car on Jupiter Drive and a purse stolen, the sheriff said.

Campbell is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $41,000 bond in his case.

The victim whose car was broken into had chased a man a neighbor of his said was the person who committed the burglary. That chase ending with Deputy Tommy Lala detained Campbell, who supposedly had a purse in his hand when he was seen jumping a fence after the break-in. Campbell also had a flashlight on him.

The stolen handbag was recovered in the backyard of the residence where Campbell had jumped the fence, the sheriff said. A steel pry bar allegedly used to break into the vehicle was also recovered.

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N.O. rapper “Flow’’ booked with attempted murder and 2 armed robbery counts in Chalmette after arrest in California, where he fled after April 29 shooting

Widner DeGruy, 21, a New Orleans rapper who performs as “Flow’’ and is signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment label, has been booked with attempted first-degree murder of a man in Chalmette and two counts of armed robbery, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

DeGruy was arrested in the Oakland, Calif., area recently by a U.S. Marshal’s Service Task Force and has been returned to Chalmette for prosecution after waving an extradition fight, the sheriff said.

DeGruy had fled to California after arrest warrants from a judge alleged that on the night of April 29 he shot at but narrowly missed a man he knew and beat and robbed that man and another man of cash and their cell phones, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

DeGruy, whose last known address was 7928 Bass St. in eastern New Orleans, allegedly had two other subjects with him during the attacks and an investigation is continuing, the sheriff said.

Sheriff’s detectives have not released information on a possible motive in the shooting and robberies.

DeGruy, placed in St. Bernard Parish Prison on June 27, is being held in lieu of bond set at $350,000.

DeGruy, better known by his stage name Flow, performs with his band The Flamez and has released several mixtapes following the release of his first solo mixtape, Heroic Volume 1, in 2009, according to his web site. He has also appeared on a track with Lil Wayne, according to the web site.

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Det. Maj. Darlene Poche retires from Sheriff’s Office after 27 years

Maj. Darlene Poche holds a plaque of appreciation for 27 years with the Sheriff’s Office and her commission as a retired deputy, given her by Sheriff James Pohlmann.

Maj. Darlene Poche with the plaque of appreciation from the sheriff.

Det. Maj. Darlene Poche, who helped countless young people and families in St. Bernard Parish during her years as head of the Juvenile Division for the Sheriff’s Office, has retired after a total of 27 years with the department. Her last day was June 28.

Poche, who was one of the first women to work in the Patrol Division at the Sheriff’s Office, began in the Reserve Division, worked as a school crossing guard, moved into patrol, also worked in the Parish Prison and spent her last 10 years in the department working with juveniles.

For years she was head of the Juvenile Division, her position when she retired. Sheriff James Pohlmann, who presented her with a plaque of appreciation and her commission as a retired deputy, said she had helped so many young people who either were victims or had gotten themselves into the criminal justice system because of illegal acts they committed.

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