By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / January 6, 1999

LAPLACE – St. John Parish sheriff’s detectives smashed a house-burglaryring in the Sugar Ridge/New Era area of LaPlace. Three arrests wereannounced Monday, with a truckload of stolen goods recovered.

Corey Victor, 17, 1136 North Sugar Ridge, was charged with eight counts of simple burglary. His bond was set at $81,000 by 40th Judicial DistrictJudge J. Sterling Snowdy.Terrance Perrilloux, 17, 1801 North Sugar Ridge, was charged with six counts of simple burglary and four counts of simple criminal damage to property. His bond was set at $48,000.Perrilloux was released in December on five years’ probation for an earlier burglary conviction.

Ricky LaBranch, 20, 1213 Cinclair Loop, was charged with simple burglary, two counts possession of stolen property and illegal carrying of a concealed weapon. His bond was set at $7,500.Sgt. Todd Hymel, Sgt. Kenneth Mitchell and Sgt. Darryl Marchand workedthe 11 residential burglaries the trio have been charged with, most of which occurred between Dec. 19 and Dec. 31.Other suspects, mostly to be charged with possession of stolen property, are expected to be arrested soon, Hymel added.

Hymel said stolen items included Sony Play Stations, watches, stereos, cellular phones, Starter jackets, cameras, handguns, collector coins and jewelry.

Victor was arrested on Dec. 29 on unrelated charges of possession ofmarijuana, illegal possession of fireworks, disturbing the peace in a violent manner and resisting an officer by flight, according to records.

Hymel added that interrogation and information received from the community helped develop the other charges. Perrilloux and LaBranch wereeach arrested Dec. 31.Their mode of operation was to take turns, two forcing their way inside while the third kept watch. The trio would usually ring the doorbell. Whenno one answered they would kick in the door.

“I have a problem with that,” Sheriff Wayne Jones commented.

However, with added deputies on the force (22 in the last year due to Clinton’s funding of new police officers across the country), the impact on local crime statistics has been dramatic, Jones observed. Overall reportedcrimes were slashed 25 percent.

A complete quarterly crime report is due out in two weeks, he said.

Jones continued as to local statistics: “We’re making some headway,” and added crime has continued to drop in his quest to make St. John theBaptist Parish “the safest in the state.”He added: “These are the kind of people in that revolving door. I’ve got abig enough jail to keep them all in there for a long time.”Jones continued: “They’re off the street today. I want them off the streetnext week.”

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