Sheriff’s Office to have more officers working nights after two carjackings in Chalmette the last two nights; No one injured and three arrests have been made

Sheriff James Pohlmann said the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office will be putting more officers on the streets at night for a greater law enforcement presence after two carjackings in Chalmette over the last two nights.

No one was injured in either incident and three teen-agers from Violet have been arrested in the one that happened Monday night, Nov. 23, and the name of another teen-ager involved is known, warrants for his arrest have been issued and an arrest is expected shortly, the sheriff said.

“We will be putting more personnel on at night” to patrol streets and have a greater presence, Sheriff Pohlmann said. “We also encourage residents to be aware of their surroundings and if they believe they are being followed to quickly call 911 or 271-2501 to notify the Sheriff’s Office,’’ the sheriff said.

The four teen-agers in the Monday night incident implied they had a weapon but never showed one as they took a man’s car as he arrived at a house, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Before the carjacking had been reported, a sheriff’s deputy on patrol saw the driver in the stolen car commit a traffic infraction and the teens fled in the vehicle as he tried to stop them. Ultimately they crashed on Pirate Drive in Chalmette, with two of them caught at the scene but two fled on foot and got away.

Two arrested that night, one 16 and the other 14, were placed in the parish juvenile detention center and booked with carjacking and other offenses.

A third teen who will be jailed as an adult because he is 17 surrendered Wednesday at a Sheriff’s Office station. He is Melvin Pernell of Violet, also booked with carjacking and other offenses. The fourth teen-ager involved is being sought.

In the second incident, on Tuesday night, Nov. 24, at least three males were involved as a woman was told to get out of a car she was sitting in outside a house. One had a gun. Two men fled in her car but investigators believe at least one other male fled in a second vehicle.

Investigators also believe the woman, who was in a high-end vehicle, was followed from New Orleans where she had just been and targeted for the vehicle.

Sheriff’s deputies spotted the stolen vehicle and pursued it into New Orleans, with the driver fleeing at a very high speed, the sheriff said. The vehicle was crashed at Claiborne Avenue and Franklin Avenue, with the two males fleeing on foot and escaping.

Anyone with information about those involved in the Tuesday night carjacking should call Crimestoppers at 822-1111 or the Sheriff’s Office at 271-2501.

---

Blue Knights law enforcement motorcycle club helps family of St. Bernard sheriff’s deputy whose son has a muscular disease

This year’s holiday season will be brighter for the family of a St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputy whose son has a muscular disease after a law enforcement motorcycle club chose to help them financially and with other gifts.

Deputy Clayten Burns and wife, Michelle, who live in Arabi, have been dealing with ongoing medical bills associated with son Brogan, now 12, who was diagnosed at age four with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – a disorder that involves worsening muscle weakness.

The Blue Knights Louisiana II, a motorcycle club made up of current or retired law enforcement officers, tries during the holidays to help a law enforcement family who needs help.
The group chose the Burns family this year after a recommendation by St. Bernard Sheriff’s Det. Sgt. Al Clavin, a member of the club.

Club President Edward Olsen of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said the group helps a family financially and with gifts.

The group, as well as being a social club, tries to “educate the public about motorcycles’’ and what to do when driving a vehicle on a roadway with a motorcyclist, Olsen said. “And we try to show them police are people too.’’

The Blue Knights met with the Burns family in Chalmette on Nov. 22 to help them.

Clayten Burns, a 15-yeaqr veteran of the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, said the group’s effort “was a real blessing’’ for his family,

“It came at the right time, with Christmas so close.’’

He said Brogan was able to meet club members and sit atop motorcycles. “He had a good time.’’

---

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office and Government Offices to Close for Thanksgiving Holiday

All non- emergency offices of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office and Parish government offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26-27, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Offices will resume normal business hours on Monday, Nov. 30.

---

Sheriff’s corrections officers donate $2,700 to the American Cancer Society by pledging a “Shaveless November’’

Some 54 officers working in the Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division pledged a “Shaveless November,’’ with the permission of Sheriff James Pohlmann, and the result was $2,700 raised for the American Cancer Society.

Lt. Justin Meyers said he read that other Sheriff’s Offices nationally had done the same to raise money for charities and he promoted the idea in St. Bernard.

With the approval of Sheriff Pohlmann, 54 officers pledged $50 each for the project.

On Monday, Nov. 23, Meyers and several corrections officers – all sporting beards of varying lengths – participated in a ceremony in which the $2,700 check was presented to Alexander Hand of the American Cancer Society in New Orleans. Sheriff Pohlmann and Col. David Mowers, the head of the Corrections Division, also were present.

Hand thanked the officers and said the money would be spent locally. “It will have a wide reach,’’ Hand said.

Sheriff Pohlmann told the officers, “We appreciate what you have done.’’

---

St. Bernard Parish to conduct a test of its Emergency Siren System on Dec. 11

As part of parish government’s on-going testing of its readiness capabilities, the St. Bernard Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness will conduct a test of its Emergency Siren System on Friday, Dec.11 at approximately 2 p.m.

The test will last for approximately three minutes.

---

Man steals water services from disabled, elderly neighbor

A Poydras area man has been arrested for stealing water service from his disabled, elderly neighbor, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Louis Leidinger, 51, 2300 E. Christie Drive, was booked Nov. 18 with theft of utility service. He was being held in lieu of $1,000 bond.

The daughter of a disabled woman in her 70s reported finding a hose leading from a spigot at the rear of her mother’s home across a fence to a neighbor’s residence, the sheriff said.

An investigating sheriff’s deputy found the hose was connected to Leidinger’s residence.

The daughter, who had gone to her mother’s home to visit her, found a $170 water bill and began to look to see if there were leaks to explain why the bill was so high.

She found no leaks but saw the hose connected to the back of the elderly woman’s house and leading over a fence into another residence, the sheriff said.

Leidinger was arrested when he returned home later that day.

---

Sheriff’s Office says that contrary to reports on social media of an armed robbery outside the Winn-Dixie supermarket in Chalmette there haven’t been any calls to the department from a victim

Sheriff James Pohlmann, responding to reports on social media, said the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t received any calls or other reports of two women robbed in the parking lot at the Winn-Dixie supermarket in Chalmette – which would normally happen if there were an actual robbery.

“If someone was robbed we want to know about it,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “Please call us at (504) 271-2501 or come to a Sheriff’s Office building to make a report so an investigation can be conducted.’’

“At this point, without information from a victim, we believe the message on social media may simply be incorrect,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “We would like the person who posted the message to call us if they know of further information.”
A woman posted on Facebook that two women had been robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Winn-Dixie store on Paris Road in Chalmette, but didn’t give a date or provide further details.

Store officials, when contacted by the Sheriff’s Office, said no one came into the store and reported being robbed and the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t received any phone calls from victims or had a victim come into a Sheriff’s Office building to make such a report, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

---

Sheriff’s Office free Holiday Ride Home program starts on Thanksgiving Day and runs through Jan. 2 to prevent drinking and driving; Call 271-2501 to be brought home

Sheriff James Pohlmann reminds residents that on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, for the 32nd consecutive year the Sheriff’s Office free holiday ride home program begins and runs through Jan. 2 as a way to hold down drinking and driving.

Call 271-2501 for the ride home.

Last year some 24 people took advantage, believed to be a record number, getting a ride home from any point in the parish, no questions asked, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

“It may have been the largest number of people we have had use the program,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said, and was a sign that residents are heeding the advice that it isn’t worth the risk to get behind the wheel if they are impaored.

“It’s a no-brainer,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “Why should you risk killing or injuring yourself or someone else or being arrested for DWI when we will bring you home free in St. Bernard,’’ the sheriff said. “Just call us.’’

When it was started in 1984 by then-Sheriff Jack A. Stephens it was the first of its type in the New Orleans area and is still a great idea, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Unfortunately, he said, arrests for driving while intoxicated also continue to be made each year during the holidays, indicating some people just don’t get it or may think there is some catch to it.

A sheriff’s deputy will pick you up and take you to your home in St. Bernard or, if you live out of the parish, you can be taken to a sheriff’s sub-station where arrangements can be made to have someone pick you up there. The program only brings a person home, not from one bar to another, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The Sheriff’s Office continues to work in conjunction with State Police to battle drunk-driving. “We patrol vigorously looking for anyone who is driving drunk or on drugs,’’ the sheriff said.”So don’t chance it. Call us instead.’’

---

2015 Property Tax Notices have been mailed out; Due by end of the day this Dec. 30

The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, in accordance with Louisiana law, has mailed the 2015 property tax notices via U.S. mail to parish property owners and the taxes must be paid by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015.

These notices were mailed to the address on file as provided to the St. Bernard Parish Tax Assessor’s Office. Property owners should have received these notices by now.

If anyone receives a tax notice for property they no longer own, please notify the sheriff’s Civil Tax Office at 504-271-2504 during regular business hours – Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.

If a property owner has moved and hasn’t received their 2015 tax bill, they need to call both the Sheriff’s Office to give their new mailing address so the tax bill can be sent to them and must call or visit the St. Bernard Tax Assessor’s office to give their permanent address change.

The Tax Assessor’s office is in a building at 2118 Jackson Blvd., directly behind the Parish Courthouse which is on West St. Bernard Highway, Chalmette. The Tax Assessor’s number is 504-279-6379.

The St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office only maintains the address change for the current mailing. The Assessor’s Office keeps the permanent address.

Property taxes for 2015 become delinquent after 4:30 p.m. when the Sheriff’s Office Annex Building closes for the day on Dec. 30. The Civil Division office where such bills are paid will be closed New Year’s Eve.

Tax bills can be paid at the Sheriff’s Civil Tax office located on the 2nd-floor of the Sheriff’s Annex, at No. 2 Courthouse Square. The Annex – which is raised above ground – faces Pakenham Drive and is the second of two buildings directly behind the Courthouse. There is also a drop box at the front entrance to the building for after-hours use.

Tax bills can also be paid online to the Sheriff’s Office at its web site at www.sbso.org by going to the left side of the front page to a tan-colored box near the top which says Pay Property Taxes

The Civil Tax office will be closed Dec. 24 and 25 for the Christmas holiday and will re-open at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 28. It will also close Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for the New Year’s holiday, then will re-open at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 4.

---

Knights of Columbus in Chalmette recognizes Sheriff’s Deputy, Firefighter and Paramedic of the Year; Deputy Dustin Gould, Firefighter Capt. Martin Nehlig and EMT Rhonda Serignet honored

Dep.ustin Gould and Rhonda Serignet are shown handing out key chains from the Sheriff’s Office and other items to children.	Grand Knight Russell Serpas Sr. presents a plaque to ,Deputy of the Year .Dustin Gould and at right is Maj. Adolph Kreger, head of the Patrol Division Gould works in.
Children of the Joseph Rummel Knights of Columbus Council 5747 join in the celebration of the Deputy, Firefighter and Paramedic of the Year.	Representing the Sheriff’s Office at the Knights of Columbus event were, from left, Sgt. Corey Beebe, Maj. Adolph Kreger, Deputy of the Year Dustin Gould, Chief Deputy Sheriff Richard Baumy and Sgt. Barry Johnson.

Archbishop Rummel Council 5747 of the Knights of Columbus in Chalmette recognized a Sheriff’s Deputy, Firefighter and Paramedic of the Year during a banquet on Sunday, Nov. 15 in its council hall on Paris Road.

Sheriff’s Det. Dustin Gould, a six-year veteran of the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, was Deputy of the Year. Capt. Martin Nehlig, a 12-year veteran of the parish Fire Department, was named Firefighter of the Year.

And Rhonda Serignet, who has been with Acadian Ambulance eight years – the last seven of them working in St. Bernard Parish – was named Paramedic of the Year.

Grand Knight Russell Serpas Sr. said the Knights of Columbus gives the awards “to recognize the people who do so much for us..’’

The group also honored veterans at the event.

Maj. Adolph Kreger, head of the Patrol Division that Gould works in. said he is a good choice because “he is a fantastic employee’’ with several good arrests to his credit this year including disarming a man who pointed an assault rifle at him during a domestic case last Spring and a cocaine seizure and arrest.

A native of St. Bernard Parish, Gould has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2009, working in corrections for four years and as a patrol deputy for two years.

Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Ellis lauded Nehlig, who works at the Verret station, for the job he has done in life-saving situations and in training rookie firefighters on rescue procedures and other protocols.

Serignet was praised by Alan Ashley, government and customer relations manager for Acadian Ambulance, for her work in St. Bernard Parish, including an incident in which she saved the life of a baby who wasn’t breathing properly.

---