Arabi man held on $100,000 bond after booked with 32 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals for 29 puppies and three older dogs found dead in his refrigerator/freezer; He claims he didn’t kill them

An Arabi man was being held on $100,000 bond after he was booked with 32 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals following the discovery of 29 dead puppies and three older dogs in his refrigerator/freezer, none of them with obvious signs of trauma, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Juan Toledo, 52, 301 Parish Drive, near Rowley Boulevard, claimed he didn’t kill the animals but offered no information on how they died, the sheriff said.

He was arrested late Tuesday night, Aug. 13, after the discovery which came after authorities were tipped off. He was arrested because either acts he committed, or outright neglect, resulted in the animals’ deaths, the sheriff said. There was no specific causes of death at this time but “it’s possible they were malnourished, simply not fed,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said of the dogs.

A $100,000 bond was set on Thursday morning for Toledo by state District Judge Jacques Sanborn and the suspect is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of being able to make that bond.

No living animals were found at the house. The remains of the deceased dogs were turned over to the animal control division of St. Bernard Parish government.

Toledo was already out on $50,000 bond for an unrelated arrest in St. Bernard Parish from July 1 when he was booked with aggravated battery of a woman identified as his then-girlfriend. He also has served time in prison in the late 1980s and early 1990s for burglary in New Orleans and was arrested there on a murder charge in 1983 but apparently was never convicted, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The woman Toledo allegedly beat, who said she broke up with him after the incident, was the one who called the Sheriff’s Office to report finding the dead dogs, saying she went to the house Tuesday evening to get things left there.

After she called authorities, Toledo was found by sheriff’s deputies about 8 p.m. while walking on West St. Bernard Highway not far from his residence and he was taken back to his home for questioning, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The suspect signed a consent form for deputies to enter and after the dead animals were found sheriff’s detectives interviewed the suspect.

Twenty-nine of the dogs were puppies, some very small and possibly only weeks old when they died, Sheriff Pohlmann said, and three were older dogs of possible mixed German Shepherd breed.

Toledo, who denied killing any of them, basically said only they had died and he hadn’t taken the time to bury them, but rather had placed them in the refrigerator and freezer sections, the sheriff said. He offered no explanation of how they died, except to speculate the smallest ones may have been accidentally suffocated by a mother dog.

But the residence was dirty, with a heavy concentration of dog hair, Sheriff Pohlmnann said, as well numerous dead fleas and live and dead roaches.

There weren’t any obvious signs the dogs had been tortured and no signs of death by shooting or cutting, the sheriff said. Officials at the parish animal shelter may be able to determine more about the deaths, he said.

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Chit Chat Club donates 15 blankets to Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Division

The Chit Chat Club, a local Louisiana Volunteers for Family and Community Homemaker club, recently donated 15 blankets to the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Division for use when children are removed from dangerous situations at home or in the community.

Chit Chat Club officials said they wanted to donate the blankets because they believe it is important for children to feel safe and warm in their community even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Shown, from left, are Brandy Evans, SBSO administrative assistant for the sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Bureau; Chief of Detectives Maj. Robert McNab; Chit Chat Club President Judy Hoffmeister and club member Polly Campbell.

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Schools have started and Sheriff Pohlmann asks drivers to think safety: Obey school zone speed limits, watch for students near schools and buses picking up or unloading; Buckle up kids in proper type seats

St. Bernard Parish schools started Tuesday, Aug. 13, and Sheriff James Pohlmann is reminding drivers to think safety, including, obeying school zone speed limits in the mornings and afternoons.’

“Besides speed limits, watch for students walking in the areas near schools and remember to buckle up your kids in proper seating for their age when driving them to or from school.’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Be prepared for school buses to stop to pick up or unload students. Also, the Sheriff’s Office is having extra patrols by deputies in school areas the first week.

“It is so important for drivers to be aware of school zones, children walking to or from school and school buses stopping to pick up or drop off kids,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “You don’t want to have a mental lapse and make a mistake you would regret forever.”

Most school zone speed limits are 20 MPH, Sheriff Pohlmann said, and drivers who know where schools are located should start slowing down well before they reach a school zone.

Also, remember to buckle children in seats appropriate for their ages, the sheriff said.

“The back seat is the safest place for young kids,’’ he said, citing statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which says children up to age 12 are safest riding in the back seat, buckled in place. Auto accidents are the leading cause of death of children 5-15 years of age.

Young children should be in rear-facing back seats. Never place a rear-facing infant seat on the front passenger seat because they could be killed if the airbag deploys and hits the child.

For full child passenger safety information, including where to find safety seat inspection stations, go online to www.nhtsa.gov to learn more.

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Sheriff Pohlmann was a sponsor of the fund-raising boxing matches for Norm’s Gym in Arabi

As young fighters box in the ring behind them, Sheriff James Pohlmann is shown with Norman VanCourt, who runs the boxing program at Norm’s Gym on Community Street in Arabi. The sheriff was one of the sponsors of Saturday night’s “Hittin Hard in St. Bernard’’ boxing card which was a fund-raiser for the boxing program. The event, which drew a large crowd numbering in the hundreds, also raised money for the family of fire-fighter Tommy Ashby of St. Bernard Parish, who was once a boxer at Norm’s Gym and was killed recently in an auto accident in Long Beach, Miss.

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Children at Christian Fellowship camp enjoyed the sheriff’s robot, airboat, motorcycle and SWAT truck; Sheriff tells them to stay in school to get ahead

Lt. Mike Ingargiola of the Traffic Division shows off a sheriff’s motorycycle, which drew plenty of interest from children.	Children signal to their friends as they ride the sheriff’s airboat, being demonstrated by Capt. Brian Clark, head of the Marine Division.
Sheriff Pohlmann, and to his right Rev. Henry Ballard of Christian Fellowship which sponsored the summer camp, talk to participants next to the sheriff’s SWAT truck.	Sgt. Stephen Ingargiola demonstrates the bomb robot used to check out suspicious items.
Children at the Christian Fellowship summer camp raise their hands to ask questions of Sheriff James Pohlmann after he spoke to them.	Demonstrating distraction glasses which simulate the effect on a person impaired by drinling or using drugs, Sheriff’s D.A.R.E. program head Lt. Lisa Jackson, left, tests the coordination skills of Nina Varnado, camp director, who is wearing the glasses.

There’s no doubt youngsters love robots, airboats, motorcycles and trucks.

And that’s what the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office gave about 75 boys and girls to play with on the final day of a summer camp sponsored by the Rev. Henry Ballard of Violet’s Christian Fellowship, held at the old Gauthier Elementary school grounds and buildings in the Poydras area.

The camp, held from early June through early August for three age groups spanning ages 4-14, gave the younger kids and young teens the chance to see Sheriff’s Office special equipment. It included some that have proven to be crowd favorities: the bomb robot used to check suspicious items, an airboat, a motorcycle used by the sheriff’s Traffic Division and the department’s SWAT truck used in SWAT team training.

Kids crowded around each of the pieces of equipment as they were demonstrated by deputies.

Also, officers from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or D.A.R.E., showed off the new “distraction glasses,’’ which simulate the effects of being drunk or impaired in order to show the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

But to Sheriff James Pohlmann and Rev Ballard, the day gave youngsters the chance to inter-act with law enforcement officers demonstrating the equipment, fostering the opportunity to talk with police and ask questions.

Ballard said the goal of the summer camp was “to enrich the kids’’ by giving them a chance to do fun such as field trips.

Ballard also noted that having Sheriff Pohlmann speak to the young people and demonstrate equipment and have deputies talk to the kids was also good for them.

“They are inquisitive’’ about sheriff’s deputies, Ballard said. “They see police in their neighborhoods and other places in the parish but for them to have the chance to ask questions is good.’’

And boy what questions the youngsters had for the sheriff.

Sheriff Pohlmann told, “Our job isn’t just to arrest people. It’s to help people’’ and some of the items the Sheriff’s Office showed to them were also for helping people – such as a boat that can used to rescue people, or the bomb robot that can investigater suspicious items without risking an officer’s life.’’

He also urged them to stay in school to get ahead in life, learn how to use computers because they are more important to work every day. And the sheriff also said to avoid people that would lead them into trouble.

In turn, the children asked intelligent questions including whether sheriff’s deputies ever get scared, to which Sheriff Pohlmann answered that yes officers can get scared when they are in dangerous situations “because they are human.’’ But they they still have to carry out their duties, he said.

Another one was why do officers carry guns? And why do police sometimes use tasers? And do little kids ever get arrested? And maybe most perceptive, why do people kill themselves sometimes?

On the last point, the sheriff told them suicide isn’t an answer, “There is no situation in which someone threatens suicide that can’t be made better’’ with help, he told them.

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Sheriff Pohlmann providing deputies at St. Claude bridge to help direct traffic during morning and evening rush hours while Claiborne bridge is closed

Sheriff James Pohlmann has been providing deputies from the Traffic Division at the St. Claude Avenue bridge in New Orleans to help direct traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours while the Judge Seeber Bridge on Claiborne Avenue is closed to vehicles until Aug. 24 for cleaning and painting.

The Seeber Bridge has been closed since the night of Aug. 2, creating traffic tie-ups on St. Claude Avenue as motorists look for an alternative to Claiborne Avenue, which normally has the greatest number of vehicles crossing the Industrial Canal.

“Our people have been helping New Orleans Police and State Police and I think it is working well,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. He said a number of St. Bernard residents who must go to New Orleans almost daily for work or other reasons have said they appreciate the sight of St. Bernard Parish deputies helping out.

While the Seeber Bridge is out, motorists can use as alternatives the St. Claude Avenue bridge, the Florida Avenue bridge or Interstate 10 to Paris Road.

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Three was unlucky number for a gang of shoplifters caught outside a third “dollar’’ store after stealing $578 in items from one and fleeing another

Calvin Aguillard

Michael Whitfield

Three was an unlucky number for a gang of shoplifters in St. Bernard Parish on Wednesday who tried binge-stealing.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said three men fled a “dollar’’ store in Meraux where they were trying to steal but left unsuccessfully, then the same group stole $578 in items from a similar store in east Chalmette but got caught by sheriff’s detectives on their apparent third try, outside a store in west Chalmette.

All three New Orleans men were booked just after 10:30 a.m. with one count of felony shoplifting and one count of attempted misdemeanor shoplifting, the sheriff said. He said the stolen merchandise, much of it cleansers, detergents and bleach as well as other things was recovered in a vehicle parked near where they were arrested in the 8300 block of West judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

The three are also suspects in several other recent shoplifting heists in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish which had similar methods of operation, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Arrested were Michael Whitfield, 37; Wayne Glasper, 33; and Calvin Aguillard, 32. All were booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison pending an appearance before a judge to have bond set.

The three had tried to steal in a “dollar’’ store in the 4200 block of East Judge Perez Drive in Meraux about 10 a.m. but left when they were spotted by a store employee, the sheriff said.

Twenty minutes later they stole the $578 of items after two men went into a store in the 900 block of East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette, took many items and headed out a door as the third man was waiting outside, then they all escaped in a vehicle, the sheriff said.

Only 10 or more minutes later, sheriff’s detectives saw two men fitting the descriptions of the wanted shoplifters walking along the side of a store in the 8300 block of West Judge Perez in Chalmette, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

He said investigation led to the arrest of them, along with the third man and the recovery of the stolen goods.

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Chalmette man arrested for forcible rape and false imprisonment of 20-year-old woman he had just met; camouflage hat played a part in the investigation

A Chalmette man was booked Tuesday with forcible rape and false imprisonment of a 20-year-old Chalmette woman he had just met and lured to his apartment by asking if she wanted to smoke or buy some marijuana he had, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

A camouflage hat played a role in the investigation, authorities said.

Denera Carter, 25, 3205 Golden Drive, Apt. A, was picked up by sheriff’s detectives after a judge signed a warrant for Carter’s arrest on the two felonies. He was being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison pending an appearance before a judge to have bond set.

The incident happened Monday during the day but sheriff’s officials didn’t learn of it until they were called Monday evening after the woman had gone to St. Bernard Hospital and been transferred to University Hospital in New Orleans to have an examination including a rape kit done.

The woman told detectives she met Carter, who she didn’t know, outside a store on Paris Road in Chalmette on Monday morning and after talking he asked her to come to his apartment to smoke or buy marijuana, Sheriff Pohlmann said. He said she agreed and once inside the residence, the man began pulling at her clothes and pinned her on a bed and raped her, implying he had a gun.

Afterward, Carter wouldn’t let her leave his apartment for a period of time until she begged him to let her go home to take kidney medication she needed, the sheriff said.

She said Carter agreed to walk her to her residence but he put a camouflage-colored hat on her head to disguise her, she said. Once at her place, she broke away and ran inside and Carter left. She then called a friend who brought her to St. Bernard Parish Hospital, she said.

When detectives interviewed the woman after she was released from the hospital, she produced the hat she said Carter had placed on her head to walk her home.

Sheriff Pohlmann said her story was bolstered by the fact the hat they received from her was very similar to a camouflage hat Carter wore himself when sheriff’s deputies dealt with him on an unrelated matter in Chalmette several months ago.

Also, while she didn’t know Carter’s name, she pointed out where the incident happened and gave a description of him including a cross tattoo on his face. With further investigation, detectives put together a photo line-up of known offenders with such a tattoo and the woman picked Carter from the group, the sheriff said.

Carter, after the arrest warrant was issued, was found by detectives and arrested about noon on Tuesday while walking on Delambert Street in Chalmette. He denied doing anything to the woman.

During a search of Carter’s apartment authorized by a warrant signed by a judge, a small amount of marijuana was found, the sheriff said.

Carter has a criminal history that includes an arrest in Baton Rouge for aggravated battery but there wasn’t any information on the outcome of the charge.

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Chalmette native Capt. Donovan Archote is new Commander of State Police Troop B, covering St. Bernard and 5 other N.O. area parishes

When Chalmette native Donovan Archote was young, he worked out at a gym where law enforcement officers were also working out and from talking to them he believes it helped inspire him to go into police work.

But he had no idea he would eventually become commander of Louisiana State Police Troop B in Kenner, a promotion which became effective July 10 after 19 years in law enforcement.

“I am so grateful and am looking forward to leading Troop B in this new chapter in my career,’’ said Archote, 41, who has been with State Police since 1998, first as a highway trooper and later an investigator, where he rose to the rank of captain.

Archote was graduated from Chalmette High in 1989 and decided to go into law enforcement while pursuing a criminal justice degree from Loyola University in New Orleans and eventually he also earned a master’s degree in business from the University of New Orleans.

Archote was accepted by the New Orleans Police Department and began there in 1994, working primarily in the French Quarter, where he enjoyed meeting people and also came to know state troopers assigned there to help during the Mardi Gras period each year. “My experience in New Orleans was very valuable.’’

He moved to State Police in 1998 and has risen steadily since. “State Police offered different opportunities,’’ he said.

In accepting the reigns of Troop B, which is responsible for 4,200 miles of highway in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and the east bank of St. John parishes, Archote takes over from another St. Bernard Parish native, who has moved to a higher position with State Police.

Former Troop B Commander Carl Saizan, who began law enforcement in the 1980s as a deputy with the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, has been promoted to the rank of major at State Police and now commands Region 1, which includes Troops A, B and L.

Archote came to Chalmette on Aug. 1 to meet with St. Bernard Sheriff James Pohlmann and talk with the department’s senior command. He said he wants to provide whatever law enforcement help the parish needs from State Police. ”St. Bernard is in my heart,’’ Archote told the group.

He said with his background in business administration combined with law enforcement, he sees leading the Troop as akin to running a business.

“I’m focused on two things: our employees and our customers,” he said. “Our employees in making sure they are properly trained so they do the best job safely and effectively. Our customers are the citizens of our state. We want to give them our best service.”

Before his promotion to Troop B commander, Archote had served with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas task force. But now the married father of one said he’s ready to help law enforcement agencies in the troop’s six-parish coverage area fight crime.

“We want to support the local agencies, not with just highway enforcement and the reduction of fatality crashes,” he said. “We really want to help affect crimefighting.’’

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Sweeping meeting on hurricane preparedness for law enforcement across Southeast Louisiana hosted by St. Bernard’s S.O.; Gov. Jindal said officials of various agencies now enjoy unprecedented cooperation

Retired St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens, Sheriff James Pohlmann, Mike Ranatza, executive director of the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association; and Gary Bennett, assistant executive director.

St. Bernard Chief Deputy Sheriff Richard Baumy, at left, and next to him are Sheriff James Pohlmann, Plaquemines Sheriff Lonnie Greco, State Police Supt. Col. Michael Edmonson and St. Bernard Parish President David Peralta.

St. Bernard Parish’s Sheriff’s Office hosted a sweeping meeting on hurricane preparedness in Chalmette on July 31, as the Louisiana Sheriff’s Office Association met with numerous state agencies and law enforcement officials from Southeast Louisiana to discuss plans for such measures as necessary evacuation of possibly thousands of jailed prisoners in the event of a severe hurricane.

That was just one area of discussion. But sheriffs, other law agencies, state corrections officials and State Police acknowledged that with 10,000 prisoners being held in jails in South Louisiana, it is imperative that plans for their evacuation begin well before they are needed.

Sheriff Pohlmann pointed out that St. Bernard learned in Hurricane Katrina that evacuating the Parish Prison in Chalmette – which didn’t flood – in favor of bringing prisoners to New Orleans jails – which did flood – wasn’t the right decision.

Since then, in Hurricanes Gustav in 2008 and Isaac last year, two storms that threatened the parish, prisoners were evacuated to state prisons further up-state. Sheriff’s Office assets, including vehicles and equipment were also moved across Lake Pontchartrain to avoid losing them as happened in Katrina, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, joining the meeting held in the banquet room of Rocky & Carlo’s restaurant, said “every region is different, every region has its own unique concern… and now is the time to address those differences, not in the middle of a storm.”

“There is no question this state is ready’’ if there is a storm, the governor said, but it’s the work done in advance between different groups that make it prepared.

Jindal, speaking to law enforcement, state agencies and media, said something is learned each year from a hurricane season. Officials throughout coastal areas from law enforcement and government now enjoy unprecedented cooperation with each other as they unite in hurricane preparation.

Looking around the room, Jindal said “five or six years ago you wouldn’t have seen all these people working together’’ to prepare for an area-wide response to a threat.

Also, since Katrina, officials said, the ability of communications systems to operate between inter-parish agencies has grown dramatically, marking a huge improvement.

Law enforcement agencies including State Police and from the parishes of St. Bernard, St. Tammany, St. James, Jefferson, Plaquemines, Washington, East Baton Rouge and others were represented. The National Guard was also represented.

Louisiana Sheriff’s Association Executive Director Mike Ranatza was part of the meeting as well as Assistant Executive Director Gary Bennett.

St. Bernard Parish President David Peralta also addressed the group.

The Louisiana Sheriff’s Association and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness are holding three regional meetings for discussing hurricane season preparation for less-protected areas of the state.

With the hurricane season now in full-swing, one meeting was held recently in New Iberia, then the latest one in Chalmette on Wednesday and another one is scheduled for Lake Charles.

In these meetings, Jindal said, government and law enforcement officials can “talk bluntly to each other about what worked and what didn’t work’’ the previous hurricane year, Jindal said.

For instance, he acknowledged, Hurricane Isaac last August provided a test of the new federal levee system surrounding much of the New Orleans area, and showed those improvements resulted in changes of water flow in some areas.

He said those water flow changes have altered the way the region must prepare for any future hurricanes.

Spurred by concerns that post-Hurricane Katrina improvements to the federal flood control system around New Orleans had actually pushed more water into communities outside that levee protection system during Isaac, the Army Corps of Engineers studied the issue and concluded that was not the case, Jindal said.

But he acknowledged, “It absolutely causes a different flow of water.”

“Whenever the corps builds levees or flood protection, it is going to change how water flows,” Jindal said. “I’m not saying it by itself does this, but it certainly changes the preparations that need to take place.”

He also said the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness recently launched a public awareness campaign to educate Louisiana citizens on storm impact versus category storm levels and has published the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Guide for distribution across the state.

Jindal encouraged residents to read the guide and inform themselves, taking into account not only a hurricane’s category but also its surge.

Jindal said about 7,000 Louisiana National Guard personnel currently are available to respond to any emergency.

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