Crime Reports

Robber forces way into home, injures 53-year-old man

Houma Police are searching for a man who forced his way into the home a 53-year-old Houma man’s home and attempted to rob him Sunday.

The incident occurred in the 200 block of Howard Avenue around 1:57 a.m., police said.

The victim told police he heard a knock at his door and, when he opened it, he was knocked to floor by a black male who continued to hit him in the face. The robber stood approximately 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches, and weighed 200 pounds. He was dressed in a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, police said.

The suspect also had a bandana over his face and wore latex gloves on his hands, according to officers.

The homeowner suffered a half-inch cut to the forehead and to his right eye, police said. He also reportedly had several cuts in his mouth, as well as bruised ribs.

Police patrolled the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call Houma Police at (985) 873-6371.

Dulac woman reports wreck as theft

The 2000 Oldsmobile was originally reported stolen Saturday morning, but the following day, when Houma Police found the car alongside St. Louis Canal Road, the truth came out.

According to police, Denita Smith, 22, of 181 Rose St., Dulac, reported the car stolen out of a parking lot behind a lounge on Main Street. She was unable to provide officers with information about the suspected thief, and told them she had the only key to the car.

A BOLO was issued and the car was listed in the NCIC database.

On Sunday afternoon, police spotted the car parked in the grassy area on St. Louis Canal Road. The front end of the car was damaged, police said.

When officers contacted Smith, they learned a friend of the Dulac woman had wrecked the vehicle after which she reported it stolen.

Smith was issued a misdemeanor summons for criminal mischief (filing a false police report). The vehicle was removed from the NCIC listing as stolen and the BOLO was cancelled, police said.

Convenience store heist foiled by videotape

A Houma man was arrested Saturday morning shortly after he robbed a local convenience store, Houma Police reported.

The incident happened at 11:09 a.m. at a store on South Van Avenue.

A surveillance camera caught Roy Clement, 45, of 205 Roselawn St., jumping on top of the checkout counter, reaching over and taking the store’s moneybag and concealing it in his blue jeans, police said. Clement fled the scene in a white vehicle.

Police arrested Clement at his home and charged him with felony theft.

Liquor heist also caught on tape

A homeless man was arrested Sunday afternoon after he stole two bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 from a discount store.

Houma Police arrested Douglas Trahan, a 40-year-old homeless man, after he entered Bryson’s Discount Store on Park Avenue and made off with the liquor. Police said the incident was captured by video surveillance cameras. Trahan had been banned from the property, and had been warned to stay away many times.

Later that evening, around 6:48 p.m., police were dispatched back to the store after Trahan returned and stole more liquor, police said. Store employees reportedly told police that Trahan walked into the store, went straight to coolers where alcoholic beverages are stored, and asked the cashier if he could steal some more items, police said.

The cashier warned Trahan that he was being recorded, but he still walked out of the store with two more bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 stashed in his pants.

Officers found Trahan near the Lafayette Street Bridge in a parking lot consuming a bottle of the Mad Dog.

He was arrested for two counts of theft of goods under $100 and two counts of entering and remaining after being forbidden. The total value of the items Trahan stole was approximately $8, police said.

Traffic violation leads to Larose narcotics bust

After nearly sideswiping a unit driven by agents with the Lafourche Parish Drug Task Force in Larose Tuesday night, a Raceland man was ultimately arrested on drug charges.

Andrew Washington, 21, of 285 Triple Oaks Dr., Raceland, and Dustin Pitre, 26, of 131 East 99th St., Cut Off, were arrested in separate incidents after officers stopped them for traffic violations.

While patrolling East 23rd Street in Larose, the agents spotted Washington’s vehicle turn down the street and continue at a high rate of speed, barely missing the agent’s unit parked on the side of the street, the sheriff’s office said. When the agents attempted to stop the car, Washington pulled into a driveway. As agents identified themselves, Washington got out of the car and dropped something out of his pocket and onto the ground, the sheriff’s office reported.

He quickly picked it up and ran from the agents, crossing a field and water-filled ditch to the next street. There, he tried to hide from the agents inside a shed, the sheriff’s office said.

Agents recovered two individual bags of suspected marijuana and $560 in cash for evidence.

The vehicle Washington had been driving was a rental out of Georgia; he was not the authorized driver, the sheriff’s office said. The vehicle was towed to a local car dealer and the rental company was contacted.

Washington was charged with reckless operation; resisting an officer; criminal trespass; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; unauthorized use of a movable; and five counts of contempt of court. State District Judge Buddy Larose set Washington’s bond at $8,600.

Pitre was arrested after agents spotted his black pickup truck swerving on and off the shoulder of state Highway 308. Officers pulled him over onto East 26th Street in Larose.

Agents detected the strong odor of marijuana coming from the truck. After receiving permission to search the vehicle, agents found white Zanbar pills in a black pouch on the driver’s seat and a glass baby far filled with suspected marijuana and some rolling papers in the center console, the sheriff’s office reported.

Pitre was charged with improper lane usage; possession of marijuana (2nd offense); possession of Schedule IV drugs (2nd offense); and possession of drug paraphernalia. Larose set Pitre’s bond at $2,000.

Houma teen, two juveniles arrested on drug charges.

After receiving a complaint that a silver Mitsubishi SUV was “peeling out” and “doing donuts” Thursday evening on Boundary Road, Houma Police found a Mitsubishi Montero fitting the description in the parking lot of the East Houma Gym.

The SUV was parked nearly behind the building with its lights and engine off, police said.

As officers approached, they detected the strong smell of marijuana coming from inside the car.

Inside the vehicle, police found a large bottle of “Banana Rum,” a handgun, a clear cellophane bag containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana, a 20-guage crack barrel shotgun, loose 20-guage shotgun shells and seven different knives with different lengths and styles n one of which had a blade approximately two feet long, police said.

The items were seized for evidence.

The driver, Jon Hartwell, 19, of 210 Kellie Drive, Houma, was charged with possessing a firearm in a weapon-free zone, and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. The two other occupants were both juveniles.

One of the juveniles was released while the other one, a 16 year-old male, was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of narcotics, and illegal carrying of a firearm in a no firearm zone.

The juvenile was then transported to the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center where he was jailed on the charges and Mr. Hartwell was transported to the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex, where he was jailed on his charges.

The suspected marijuana weighed 0.9 grams, according to police.