By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE – Authorities in St. Charles announced that deputies have added two more arrests to what Sheriff Greg Champagne is calling the “looting wall of shame.”

“Our detectives have been working very hard with all of the victims of these despicable acts and I anticipate more arrests will come in the days ahead,” Champagne said. “This sort of behavior will not be tolerated in St. Charles Parish.”

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said the two arrests stem from unrelated incidents of burglary and involve homes in the St. Rose area.

Yoes said a warrant was issued for Thomas E. Hunt III, 20, 714 St. Rose Ave., St. Rose, after investigators discovered Hunt’s fingerprints on items in the home of one of the victims. Yoes said the victim, who had evacuated ahead of Hurricane Gustav, is a nearby neighbor of Hunt. He said that Hunt knew the house was empty at the time of the burglary.

Hunt was booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility on charges of looting and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on a $200,000 bond set by Judge Granier.

Champagne said deputies have also arrested a St. Charles area juvenile in connection with a separate St. Rose burglary during the height of the Gustav. Yoes said the juvenile, whose name was not released, was taken into custody as a result of evidence obtained by detectives. He said most of the victim’s property was also recovered.

Champagne said numerous residents of the area have been pivotal in the investigation into the arrest.