NEW ORLEANS — Nearly 30 years after Darrel Miles was sent to prison for rape, he thought he was on his way to proving his innocence. Now he worries that his chance for freedom was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Continue
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal authorities say more than 600 firearms were looted from Louisiana pawn shops, stores and other gun dealers in the chaotic days after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The New Orleans-area Crime Stoppers organization and law enforcement agencies are offering up to $2,500 for the arrest and indictment of anyone responsible for the thefts.
Of the 20 stores burglarized in Louisiana, seven were in Orleans Parish, eight in Jefferson Parish, four in St. Bernard Parish and one in St. John the Baptist Parish. Though area police took steps to remove and secure some firearms from businesses before and after the storm, looters still managed to find weapons to steal.
Of the 1,000 guns looted from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, only 137 have been recovered. The guns have been found in Georgia, Arizona, Texas and Mississippi, but the vast majority have turned up in Louisiana
In the Midst of the Cleanup, Thieves Are Lying and Impersonating Their Way to Profits
Nov. 8, 2005 — The victims of the 2005 hurricane season have suffered tremendously — but for some, the worst financial damage may be yet to come. As the post-hurricane cleanup continues around the Gulf Coast, state officials are reminding residents about the threat of scam artists seeking to bilk them out of money. MORE
I have said all along that there is a need to balance compassion with discernment...This article breaks my heart -
(CNN) -- A Texas woman was allegedly robbed and killed by three hurricane evacuees she befriended after meeting them at her church, according to Pasadena, Texas, police."Unfortunately it looks lik her good will may have cost her life." Read the Article
My comments: By the way, there have been some rumors floating around that the reports of looting in the aftermath of Katrina was an exaggeration. I have never accepted this theory as I saw photographs of folks running through the city carrying brand new television sets...and I have friends from N.O. who have eye witnessed the same...in fact I am hearing reports that looting is still happening...the article above makes reference to current reports of looting in N.O.
MANSFIELD, La. (AP) - A New Orleans couple who wed last month at a Mansfield hurricane evacuation shelter saw a sudden end to marital bliss. The groom is recovering from a stab wound while the bride is in jail on an attempted murder charge.
A.J. Cooper said his marriage to Angel Parker had been trouble-free until Wednesday morning. Cooper says they had a few beers and Parker got mad about something, grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Cooper is being treated at LSU Hospital in Shreveport for a punctured lung.
Cooper says frustration and depression might be partly to blame. The couple evacuated from the convention center in New Orleans eight days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
They were transported to Union Springs Baptist Church's Restoration Center in Benson, which was their home until two weeks ago when they moved into a rent-free apartment in Mansfield.
In the meantime, they have been able to talk to their 10 children by telephone. Parker is jailed in lieu of $25,000 after being booked with attempted second-degree murder.
Cooper says he plans to live with his father in Mississippi after he gets out of the hospital.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida newspaper says the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued overpayments of at least $174 million dollars in its rush to help Hurricane Katrina victims.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that in three Louisiana parishes, FEMA paid at least $70 million -- and that represents more payments than households.
The report says that in 36 parishes and counties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, FEMA awarded $102 million to at least 51,000 more applicants than local officials said were displaced by the storm.
But a FEMA spokeswoman says there were thousands of students from five universities in New Orleans who were displaced by Katrina. Also, many families were split up and therefore legally entitled to more than one payment.
The spokeswoman says FEMA put the needs of disaster victims first, and she says the agency will prosecute people who commit fraud to get federal aid.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - There may be more arrests in the investigation into deaths at nursing homes and hospitals during and after Hurricane Katrina. The Louisiana attorney general's office said Friday that some patients may have been euthanized to spare them more suffering. Only two people have been arrested so far. The husband and wife who own a St. Bernard Parish nursing home are charged with negligent homicide for the deaths of 34 people who were in the home when flood waters rose. The state is now investigating six hospitals and 13 nursing homes. The special unit has 18 investigators and four lawyers. The attorney general's office has previously confirmed that records and other material were seized from Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, where 34 patients died after the hospital was cut off by flood waters.
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If you are one of those who would take advantage of the many shady opportunities to line your pockets at the expense of the chaos left by Katrina and Rita, here's a red flag for you. The new task force on fraud is being headquarted here in Baton Rouge, and they will be up and running quickly thanks to needed infrastructure that's already here. More
Link: Scam Targeted Thousands of NO Police.
I'll say it again...we all need to stay alert, balance compassion with discernment
just read an AP news article about two Alabama residents who posed as Katrina victims to get all kinds of help from unsuspecting folks. I think this is a good time to remind Katrina helpers to balance compassion with discernment. There have been a couple of times that I have been approached for assistance when I suspected the request for help was being misrepresented. I will help anyone in need but I don't appreciate deception. On another note, there are so many wonderful grass roots initiatives on behalf of Katrina survivors via private citizen blogs & websites. This is part of the grass root social networking that is being spawned in a really cool way by the internet - at the same time the information highway is a mircrocosm for the world in general. It's the wild, wild west out there & we have to be aware.
Link: Scammers hit Web in Katrina's wake.
a note of caution....