Tri-Parish Crime Reports

Businesses robbed early Monday

Two Houma businesses fell victim to burglars early Monday.

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s deputies responded to two business alarms at approximately 5 a.m., according to Maj. Malcolm Wolfe, department spokesman.

At Broadmoor Drug Store on West Park Avenue, several prescription medications were stolen from the store’s pharmacy.

Earlier that morning, deputies responded to an alarm at Sally’s Beauty Supply on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Wolfe said both burglaries remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the TPSO detective bureau at (985) 857-0300.

Homeless man nabbed after causing ruckus at Wal-Mart

A homeless man was arrested at the East Houma Wal-Mart on Grand Caillou Road early Monday after causing a disturbance in the store.

When officers arrived at 3:58 a.m., they spotted a man wearing camouflage coveralls quickly walking away from the store’s entrance, said Lt. Todd Duplantis, department spokesman. When officers tried to stop the man, he ran from police and tried to climb the outside air conditioner pipes to a next-door business.

While the man was still hanging onto the pipes, they pulled way from the wall of the building and the man fell five feet to the ground, got up and began running back toward Wal-Mart, the spokesman said.

Officers caught up to the man as he ran toward the grocery door entrance of Wal-Mart, where they ordered him to stop. When the man kept running, police used their Taser to stop and apprehend the man.

The man, identified as Daniel Williams, 30, was arrested for simple criminal damage to property under $500, resisting an officer, enter remain after forbidden and disturbing the peace by intoxication.

Police searching for convenience store robber

Houma Police are searching for a white male that robbed a convenience store in the 1000 block of Grand Caillou Road early Monday.

The robbery occurred around 4:11 a.m. when the man entered the store armed with a knife and demanded the store clerks to give him money from the cash box, according to Lt. Todd Duplantis, department spokesman. Witnesses said the man was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, which was covering his face, and blue jeans.

The man stole an undetermined amount of cash and then ran out of the store toward East Street, the spokesman said.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (985) 873-6371.

Quick stop extended after driver’s truck is stolen

A quick stop at a friend’s house ended up costing a 50-year-old local man his pickup truck.

Houma Police were called to Morgan Street early Monday where the pickup was stolen, said department spokesman Lt. Todd Duplantis. The man told officers he left his keys in the truck when he went to his friend’s house. As he did, a young black male, weighing approximately 125 pounds and standing 5 feet, four inches, jumped into the truck and drove away on Hobson Street, the spokesman said.

The truck is a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado crew cab Z-71. It is gray and has a bullet hole in the driver’s side door. The truck’s license plate number is X135348.

Officers were unable to find the truck after patrolling the area. It has since been entered into the NCIC computer as stolen. Anyone with information as to the truck’s whereabouts are asked to call police at (985) 873-6371.

Busted windshield leads to drug bust

Houma Police stopped a local man because the windshield of his 2000 Ford Ranger was busted. But what they found inside the vehicle led to a bust of a different kind.

Wesley Joseph Monson III, 31, of 119 Holiday Dr., Houma, was stopped at 8:25 a.m. Saturday by a criminal patrol on a traffic violation, said Lt. Todd Duplantis, department spokesman.

Inside Monson’s truck, officers found a crack pipe and a Xanax pill. The pipe and drugs were seized for evidence, and Monson’s vehicle was towed by a local wrecker service.

He was transported to the Terrebonne Parish Jail where he was charged with possession of Schedule IV narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a vehicle without an adequate windshield.

Argument escalates; Raceland father charged in shooting

A Raceland man is facing attempted second-degree murder charges after he shot a man his son had argued with earlier at a local convenience store Friday night.

Duane Smith Sr., 38, of 454 St. Phillip St., turned himself in late Friday to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, said spokesman Larry Weidel.

Earlier in the evening, Smith’s son, Duane Smith Jr., and Shawn Poindexter, both age 20, had gotten into a verbal altercation at a Raceland convenience store. Afterward, Poindexter went home. Duane Smith Jr. and his father went to Poindexter’s home.

The younger Smith and Poindexter fought, Weidel said. When the fight ended, Duane Smith Sr. shot at Poindexter, striking him in the back, he said.

The bullet entered the lower left back and exited near the right hip causing small intestine damage, Weidel explained. Poindexter was rushed to St. Anne Hospital in Raceland. He was placed in ICU in “serious condition,” the spokesman said. Poindexter is expected to remain hospitalized for a couple of weeks while he recovers from surgery, he added.

Smith is being held on a $500,000 bond, Weidel said.

Duane Smith Jr. turned himself in to the sheriff’s office Monday and was cited for simple battery.

If convicted of attempted second-degree murder, Weidel said Duane Smith Sr. could face a maximum of 50 years in prison.

His prior convictions include one charge of domestic abuse battery entered earlier this year, Weidel said.

Police investigating break-in on Aubrey Drive

Houma Police are searching for a burglar who broke into a home in the 100 block of Aubrey Drive late Thursday night.

The 43-year-old resident of the house said he heard a noise coming from his living room and that when he went to investigate, he was struck in the head with a blunt object and knocked unconscious, department spokesman Lt. Todd Duplantis said.

The man said when he awoke, he noticed items from his home had been moved near the front door, but that nothing appeared to be missing. The man told police he left his front door unlocked because he thought friends were coming over, the spokesman said.

Acadian Ambulance was called to the residence to treat the man’s minor injuries. He refused to go to the hospital, Duplantis said.

The incident remains under investigation, he said.

Houma man cited for double hit-and-runs

A Houma man was cited after he slammed his 1985 Jeep Cherokee into another car early last Wednesday on East Street and then left the scene, only to hit a second car during his escape.

Tommy Verdin, 52, of 428 Ashland Dr., crashed into a 2000 Dodge Neon at 1:43 a.m. as he was traveling on East Street at Senator Street, according to Lt. Todd Duplantis, Houma Police spokesman. The jeep turned onto Larry Street and then onto Isabel Street where it struck a parked 1993 Ford Crown Victoria. Verdin left the scene again, but a witness followed his jeep to the Houma Mobile Court area off Main Street, Duplantis said.

Officers spotted the heavy front-end damage to Verdin’s vehicle. He was issued a misdemeanor summons for two couts of hit-and-run driving and one count of careless operation.

Duplantis said a local wrecker company was called to tow the jeep because of the heavy damage.

If found guilty, he said Verdin could face a maximum sentence of $500 and six months in jail.

Man arrested for drugs in Bayou Towers

Houma Police were called to the Bayou Towers Tuesday morning after the housing manager found marijuana in an apartment during an annual inspection.

Lt. Todd Duplantis, department spokesman, said police detected a strong odor of marijuana inside the apartment. They also found rolling papers and approximately 19.2 grams of suspected marijuana inside. The items were seized for evidence, he said.

Russell James Guillot, 63, of 7491 Park Ave., Apt. 613, was issued a summons for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Man cited for relieving himself in public

Houma Police cited a 66-year-old man for obscenity Tuesday afternoon after they spotted him urinating in public view in a trailer park.

Officers conducting criminal patrols in the area of East Street saw Hebert Mitchel, of 118A Puge Court, Houma, relieving himself in the open in Daniel Turner Trailer Court, said Lt. Todd Duplantis, department spokesman. According to police, there were several small children playing in the same yard as Mitchel was standing.

The Houma man told police he didn’t know it was a crime to urinate in public. He was issued a summons for obscenity.

Speeding dirt biker gives cops a cold shoulder; they give him a ride to jail

Perry Windwehen Jr. can’t say he wasn’t warned.

As Houma Police investigated a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Williams Avenue and Sixth Street near noon last Saturday, they heard a dirt bike speeding their way, according to department spokesman Lt. Todd Duplantis.

When Windwehen, 30, of 139 McKinley St., Houma, came speeding in the northbound land of Williams Avenue. The street’s speed limit is 15 mph.

Police called for Windwehen to slow down and shouted several commands for him to stop the bike and pull over to the side of the road, Duplantis said. But the rider only slowed down, looked at the officer, and then turned the dirt bike around, taking off at a high rate of speed.

Officers then chased the dirt bike as it turned onto Second Street and then Suthon Avenue. Windwehen darted off the road and in between houses in the 900 block of Suthon Avenue.

As the officers were hunting for Windwehen, dispatchers alerted them that a 911 caller had informed them that a man hid a blue dirt bike behind a house in the 900 block of Suthon Avenue and took off running, Duplantis said. The caller said the man was hiding behind a house in the 500 block of Gouaux Avenue.

Police found Windwehen behind the house as the caller reported.

Windwehen had two outstanding warrants for his arrest for failure to return lease movable and failure to appear. He was arrested for reckless operation, operating a dirt bike on a roadway without a helmet, operating a dirt bike on a roadway without eye protection, operating a dirt bike on the roadway and aggravated flight from an officer.

A local wrecker service towed Windwehen’s 2001 Yamaha off-road motorcycle, Duplantis said.