krayzkajun
Cowboy Up
3yrs after this occurred. I can finally put it behind me.
I left the dept in Nov of 11'.
Testifying Thursday definitely brought back a lot of feelings.
I was the initial contact. So much for what the media calls a routine traffic stop.
He didn't get the max, but at least he is off the streets for another 7yrs or so.
Stay safe out there fellas.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/07/new_orleans_man_pleads_guilty_10.html#incart_river
A New Orleans man standing trial on charges of trying to kill two Westwego police officers in a rolling gun battle closed his criminal case Friday by pleading guilty to reduced charges in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. Akeem Victor, 23, could be released from prison in less than seven years, because he has already spent three years behind bars while waiting trial.
Victor was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder of police officers and possession of a stolen gun. That arose from the July 13, 2010, shoot-out in a Westwego residential neighborhood, which culminated with a police dog capturing him under a house.
While he denied being a shooter during his trial, he admitted to leading police on a chase while driving a stolen Ford Expedition carrying two passengers and a small arsenal of semiautomatic pistols, a sawed-off shotgun and an assault rifle that fired 7.62 mm rounds. He refused to name his cohorts, who remain at large.
Victor faced 20 years up to 50 years in prison had he been convicted of even one of the attempted murders. For at least a month, he had been willing to plead guilty to reduced charges of aggravated assault on police officers. On Friday before the second day of his trial began, the Jefferson Parish district attorney's office agreed to it. Observers said the prosecutors encountered problems with evidence Thursday evening.
"I think it was one of those situations where both sides had a lot to lose," Victor's attorney, Davidson Ehle, said afterward. "I am relieved with the fair outcome."
Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Kelly Rish prosecuted Victor as a principal to the attempted first-degree murder of officer Jacob Erfle, because he had stopped the SUV to let the gunman out to shoot at the officer. Victor was accused of personally shooting at Sgt. Joseph Fennidy, by firing out of the driver's side window at the officer sitting in a marked police cruiser.
"That evening could have been very tragic for the Westwego Police Department, and we're very fortunate we didn't have any officers who were seriously injured or killed that night," Police Chief Dwayne "Poncho" Munch said. "We're thankful for that, and we're thankful justice was served."
Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court, in accepting the plea, gave Victor the maximum 10 years for the aggravated assault and five years for the stolen gun. He said he ran the sentences concurrently, because the charges stem from the same incident.
"What did you do?" Sullivan asked Victor during the plea hearing. "I shot at officers in the state of Jefferson," Victor replied.
"And what about the gun?" the judge asked. Victor replied, "I possessed it," knowing it was stolen.
The incident began about 11 p.m., when Erfle said he tried to pull over the Expedition on the West Bank Expressway. The driver wasn't wearing a seat belt, and the Florida license plate was expired. Instead of pulling over, Victor accelerated, leading Erfle on a pursuit that surpassed 75 mph on residential streets, the officer testified Thursday.
Victor stopped at Wayne Avenue and Alma Street, where a passenger got out and opened fire on Erfle, the officer testified. As he returned fire from behind his police cruiser, Erfle saw the gunman walking backwards, shooting while using the slowly moving SUV as a shield.
"I can hear them (bullets) striking the cement under my vehicle and passing over my head toward the houses behind me," Erfle testified.
The gunman got back into the SUV, and the driver began speeding toward Emile Street, where Fennidy had arrived and placed his Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser in its path he testified. He said his smaller car was no match for the larger Expedition bearing down on him.
"They would have ran straight through me, so I chose to back up," Fennidy testified.
He said he then saw the flashes of gunfire coming from the driver's window. "The only thing I could think about was, 'I'm a sitting duck,'" Fennidy testified.
He said he leaned over in the seat and opened fire, shooting through his own car's windshield and striking the passing Expedition. A bullet struck the spotlight on the car's door frame, only inches from his head, he said.
The three suspects abandoned the SUV in an alley beside a business in the 400 block of Sala Avenue. That triggered a manhunt that involved the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and police canines, the officers said.
Sheriff's Office Sgt. Johnny Heck and his Belgian malinois, Marco, found Victor under a house across Avenue A from Westwego City Hall. Heck said Victor twice resisted the dog, even slapping it on the nose. "He yells, 'No!,'" Heck testified.
Heck sent Marco under the house a third time, and the dog latched its teeth into Victor's side. Whereupon Victor bit the canine, something Heck, in two decades on the job, said he had never seen.
"The guy just rolls on top of the dog and bites him," Heck testified. "The dog is there to do its job, and to see a human being bite the dog is kind of scary."
Fearing for Marco's well being, Heck ordered the dog out. Victor eventually obeyed orders to crawl out from under the house, Heck said. He was treated at the scene but declined to be hospitalized.
Westwego police detective Andre Cavalier testified that he spoke with Victor, alone in a police car. He said Victor admitted to being the driver, knowing the SUV was stolen and to shooting at Fennidy. He later refused to give a recorded statement of his confession, leaving a jury to decide whether Cavalier was credible.
Victor also did not provide the names of his friends in the SUV. "I asked him, and he said he didn't know," Cavalier testified.
Ehle, Victor's attorney, told the jury in opening statements that Victor was merely a passenger in the SUV and never shot at anyone. But Erfle identified Victor as the driver, making him the one who shot at Fennidy.
Two officers said Erfle arrived at the scene where Victor was arrested and identified him as being involved. Cavalier said Erfle identified Victor as the driver. Sheriff's Office Detective Todd Rivere recalled Erfle was less specific but spontaneously identified Victor as a suspect nonetheless.
"'That's him. That's him. That's the one,'" Rivere recalled Erfle saying. "This was a very strong, confident identification."
Ehle said the stolen pistol, to which Victor pleaded guilty to possessing, was a .40-caliber Glock modified with a .357-calber barrel. The bullets in the magazine were .40-caliber and so were too big to fit through the .357 barrel, he said.
"That gun was inoperable," Ehle said in arguing that Victor couldn't have fired it.
Police surmised that the pistol the gunmen used was discarded and never found.
Records at New Orleans Criminal District Court show Victor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in 2008 and received six months of probation. He had no prior convictions in Jefferson Parish, records show.
I left the dept in Nov of 11'.
Testifying Thursday definitely brought back a lot of feelings.
I was the initial contact. So much for what the media calls a routine traffic stop.
He didn't get the max, but at least he is off the streets for another 7yrs or so.
Stay safe out there fellas.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/07/new_orleans_man_pleads_guilty_10.html#incart_river
A New Orleans man standing trial on charges of trying to kill two Westwego police officers in a rolling gun battle closed his criminal case Friday by pleading guilty to reduced charges in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. Akeem Victor, 23, could be released from prison in less than seven years, because he has already spent three years behind bars while waiting trial.
Victor was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder of police officers and possession of a stolen gun. That arose from the July 13, 2010, shoot-out in a Westwego residential neighborhood, which culminated with a police dog capturing him under a house.
While he denied being a shooter during his trial, he admitted to leading police on a chase while driving a stolen Ford Expedition carrying two passengers and a small arsenal of semiautomatic pistols, a sawed-off shotgun and an assault rifle that fired 7.62 mm rounds. He refused to name his cohorts, who remain at large.
Victor faced 20 years up to 50 years in prison had he been convicted of even one of the attempted murders. For at least a month, he had been willing to plead guilty to reduced charges of aggravated assault on police officers. On Friday before the second day of his trial began, the Jefferson Parish district attorney's office agreed to it. Observers said the prosecutors encountered problems with evidence Thursday evening.
"I think it was one of those situations where both sides had a lot to lose," Victor's attorney, Davidson Ehle, said afterward. "I am relieved with the fair outcome."
Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Kelly Rish prosecuted Victor as a principal to the attempted first-degree murder of officer Jacob Erfle, because he had stopped the SUV to let the gunman out to shoot at the officer. Victor was accused of personally shooting at Sgt. Joseph Fennidy, by firing out of the driver's side window at the officer sitting in a marked police cruiser.
"That evening could have been very tragic for the Westwego Police Department, and we're very fortunate we didn't have any officers who were seriously injured or killed that night," Police Chief Dwayne "Poncho" Munch said. "We're thankful for that, and we're thankful justice was served."
Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court, in accepting the plea, gave Victor the maximum 10 years for the aggravated assault and five years for the stolen gun. He said he ran the sentences concurrently, because the charges stem from the same incident.
"What did you do?" Sullivan asked Victor during the plea hearing. "I shot at officers in the state of Jefferson," Victor replied.
"And what about the gun?" the judge asked. Victor replied, "I possessed it," knowing it was stolen.
The incident began about 11 p.m., when Erfle said he tried to pull over the Expedition on the West Bank Expressway. The driver wasn't wearing a seat belt, and the Florida license plate was expired. Instead of pulling over, Victor accelerated, leading Erfle on a pursuit that surpassed 75 mph on residential streets, the officer testified Thursday.
Victor stopped at Wayne Avenue and Alma Street, where a passenger got out and opened fire on Erfle, the officer testified. As he returned fire from behind his police cruiser, Erfle saw the gunman walking backwards, shooting while using the slowly moving SUV as a shield.
"I can hear them (bullets) striking the cement under my vehicle and passing over my head toward the houses behind me," Erfle testified.
The gunman got back into the SUV, and the driver began speeding toward Emile Street, where Fennidy had arrived and placed his Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser in its path he testified. He said his smaller car was no match for the larger Expedition bearing down on him.
"They would have ran straight through me, so I chose to back up," Fennidy testified.
He said he then saw the flashes of gunfire coming from the driver's window. "The only thing I could think about was, 'I'm a sitting duck,'" Fennidy testified.
He said he leaned over in the seat and opened fire, shooting through his own car's windshield and striking the passing Expedition. A bullet struck the spotlight on the car's door frame, only inches from his head, he said.
The three suspects abandoned the SUV in an alley beside a business in the 400 block of Sala Avenue. That triggered a manhunt that involved the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and police canines, the officers said.
Sheriff's Office Sgt. Johnny Heck and his Belgian malinois, Marco, found Victor under a house across Avenue A from Westwego City Hall. Heck said Victor twice resisted the dog, even slapping it on the nose. "He yells, 'No!,'" Heck testified.
Heck sent Marco under the house a third time, and the dog latched its teeth into Victor's side. Whereupon Victor bit the canine, something Heck, in two decades on the job, said he had never seen.
"The guy just rolls on top of the dog and bites him," Heck testified. "The dog is there to do its job, and to see a human being bite the dog is kind of scary."
Fearing for Marco's well being, Heck ordered the dog out. Victor eventually obeyed orders to crawl out from under the house, Heck said. He was treated at the scene but declined to be hospitalized.
Westwego police detective Andre Cavalier testified that he spoke with Victor, alone in a police car. He said Victor admitted to being the driver, knowing the SUV was stolen and to shooting at Fennidy. He later refused to give a recorded statement of his confession, leaving a jury to decide whether Cavalier was credible.
Victor also did not provide the names of his friends in the SUV. "I asked him, and he said he didn't know," Cavalier testified.
Ehle, Victor's attorney, told the jury in opening statements that Victor was merely a passenger in the SUV and never shot at anyone. But Erfle identified Victor as the driver, making him the one who shot at Fennidy.
Two officers said Erfle arrived at the scene where Victor was arrested and identified him as being involved. Cavalier said Erfle identified Victor as the driver. Sheriff's Office Detective Todd Rivere recalled Erfle was less specific but spontaneously identified Victor as a suspect nonetheless.
"'That's him. That's him. That's the one,'" Rivere recalled Erfle saying. "This was a very strong, confident identification."
Ehle said the stolen pistol, to which Victor pleaded guilty to possessing, was a .40-caliber Glock modified with a .357-calber barrel. The bullets in the magazine were .40-caliber and so were too big to fit through the .357 barrel, he said.
"That gun was inoperable," Ehle said in arguing that Victor couldn't have fired it.
Police surmised that the pistol the gunmen used was discarded and never found.
Records at New Orleans Criminal District Court show Victor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in 2008 and received six months of probation. He had no prior convictions in Jefferson Parish, records show.
