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A New Orleans man is accused of trying to kill a Slidell police officer Wednesday (Feb. 21) by running over him with a stolen U-Haul truck. Ricky Cooper, 32, was booked with attempted murder of a peace officer, resisting an officer and possession of a stolen vehicle, the Slidell Police Department reported. Aliyah Sharrieff, 19, a passenger in the truck with Cooper, was booked with resisting an officer and possession of a stolen vehicle. The officer, who fired two shots at the U-Haul in an attempt to stop the vehicle, has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of...

SLIDELL – A 67-year-old Slidell man who served as a go-between for an international team of scammers running a “Nigerian prince” email scheme has been arrested after an 18-month investigation. Michael Neu, who is neither Nigerian nor a prince, has been charged with 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Neu helped shuttle fraudulently obtained money to his co-conspirators, some of whom actually do live in Nigeria, according to the Slidell Police Department. The ubiquitous scheme, which begins when an email is sent to an unsuspecting recipient the scammers claim has been named as the beneficiary in a will,...

A Slidell-based Carnival krewe has uninvited a pair of New Orleans Saints players to serve as grand marshals for the krewe's 2018 parade after the players participated in a protest during the national anthem prior to Sunday's (Sept. 24) game, WVUE-Fox 8 reports. The Krewe of Poseidon took back invites to players Kenny Vaccaro and Alex Okafor, who had already agreed to serve as grand marshals, after they sat during the anthem in Charlotte, according to the news station. Vaccaro and Okafor were among 10 Saints and 150 professional football players around the National Football League who refused to stand...

While most 10 year-old little girls are home playing with dolls, Dakota Armond occupies her spare time working on her jujitsu techniques at the Clementi's Gladiator Academy in Slidell. She is the daughter of Derrick and Beth Armond and granddaughter of Lynda Shouse. Although she has her share of bloody noses, she is determined. One day while wrestling with her dad, she became really mad and decided that she wanted to learn jujitsu to become more competitive. Jujitsu is a Japanese system of unarmed combat by putting your opponent in pain until they give in or tap out."I still wrestle...

Slidell Police on Monday (Dec. 28) arrested a suspect within minutes of an armed robbery at the Redfish gas station in the 3600 block of Pontchartrain Drive. Police say 32-year-old Elias Mendez tried to rob the gas station with a knife around 6:45 p.m. A clerk called 911 while the owner fought Mendez,

A man crushed and dragged on his motorcycle by an 18-wheeler in Slidell has survived. The incident, captured in a terrifying video, leads "one to believe that miracles really do exist," the Slidell Police Department declared. The crash occurred last Friday (Aug. 7) around 7 p.m. At the intersection of Gause Boulevard West and Carnation Street a motorcyclist had come to a stop and was surveying traffic, video provided by the Police Department shows.As he is there idling on his bike, an 18-wheeler makes a right turn and plows right into him. The 2005 Freightliner careens down Carnation Street, pushing...

A Wal-Mart store in Slidell refused a request to decorate a cake with a design featuring a Confederate flag, but agreed to decorate a cake featuring the flag of the Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS, a man says in a video posted to YouTube. Wal-Mart has apologized for selling the cake, explaining that the employee who handled the order did not recognize it as the ISIS flag. The corporation, a spokesman said, does not support ISIS. The YouTube video, posted Friday (June 26) by a man identified as Chuck Netzhammer, shows a man sitting on a motorcycle unfurl a...

SLIDELL, LA (WVUE) - A nine year old boy made a touching gesture to a Slidell police officer, but the officer had one regret about the chance meeting, so he reached out to the public for help. Officer Joe McMahan was driving when another person asked him to pull over. After pulling over, a woman asked if she could give something to McMahan. The nine year old, identified as Jayden Witsell, stepped out of the passenger side of the car and approached the police cruiser. The boy asked if he could give something to Witsell. "For a moment, I didn't...

Well wishes have been pouring in to the Slidell Police Department since one of its officers was shot last Friday. But one in particular has hit the mark. On its Facebook page Friday, the department showcased a letter sent from Anderson, Missouri, by a young girl. The girl, Kaeleigh Ash, wrote by hand: "To the officer who got shot. I say a prayer every night for you to get better. Hope you feel better soon." Since the department posted the letter close to 1,100 people have "liked" the girl's heartfelt card. The reserve officer, Sgt. Cliff Laigast, an 8-year veteran...

Two out-of-state teens accused of robbing an 80-year-old Slidell woman are behind bars after being chased down by two good Samaritans who witnessed the theft. According to a statement from the Slidell Police department, Jacob Little and Jacob Pilkington - both from North Carolina - were arrested Friday (May 30) after police say they robbed the elderly woman in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart on Northshore Boulevard.The duo, whose ages were not provided by authorities, were traveling to Texas to visit family members, but noticed they were low on gas so they decided to stop by the big box...

Slidell, La. - St. Tammany deputies have arrested an illegal immigrant accused of stealing trailers and golf carts from homeowners' properties over the past year. Right now, 32-year-old Jorge Munguia-Martinez faces one count of theft over $1500. But more charges could be on the way. Investigators call it a brazen, midday heist. "He stole an entire trailer, which was full of merchandise. So he just backed his truck up, hooked the trailer up and took it away," Capt. George Bonnett with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office explained. That was just one of the items deputies say Munguia-Martinez stole....

Boredom prompted a 20-year-old Slidell woman Tuesday to place two bogus 911 calls, one about a burglary and another about a house fire, authorities said Wednesday. Ashley K. Snipes, of 504 Maine Ave., was arrested Tuesday afternoon and booked with falsely reporting a fire and falsely reporting a crime. Slidell Police received a call at 11:29 from a woman who reported that her home in the 500 block of Maine Avenue was being burglarized, department spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. Officers went to the home, but the homeowner said that everything was fine and that he had not called police,...

Five males have been charged with picking up a 19-year-old out-of-state woman who was visiting New Orleans last October, forcing her along on a car ride to Slidell, and then raping her for hours. Chance Ross, 18, and Joshua Reed, 22, both of Slidell; Jerrell Payton, 16, and Elroy Cooper, 18, both of Pearl River; and Ralph Robertson, 17, whose address is unknown to authorities, were each indicted on a charge of aggravated rape Wednesday by a St. Tammany Parish grand jury. The crime carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence....

A Slidell man shot and killed his neighbor's two pit bulls after they attacked him and his dog Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. The man was in his home on Maris Stella Street about 1 p.m. when he saw the pit bulls enter his yard and attack his dog, Slidell Police Lt. Ray Dupuy said on the scene. The man's dog appeared to be a Labrador-Rottweiler mix, Dupuy said. The man rushed in to protect his dog, at which point the pit bulls turned on him, Dupuy said. The resident then went inside and got a handgun, shooting both dogs when...

St. Tammany Parish authorities caught and killed a large alligator that attacked an 11-year-old boy near Slidell Wednesday afternoon, slit open the animal's belly and retrieved the boy's arm that the gator had bitten off at the shoulder.As soon as Devin Funck's arm was rescued from the stomach of the alligator, it was wrapped in a wet towel, stashed in an ice chest and rushed by a sheriff's deputy and a Slidell 1st District firefighter to Ochsner Medical Center, where the boy had been taken by helicopter two hours earlier.Devin's condition was undetermined, but authories near Slidell were hopeful that...

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's officials say over $150,000 in weapons has been seized from a Slidell home. Investigators say they learned of the massive weapons cache after a man called them to report over $70,000 in weapons was stolen from his home. That prompted authorities to secure a search warrant for the home, which turned up some 50 additional weapons, ranging from semi-automatic pistols to a .50 caliber semi-automatic bolt action sniper rifle. "When the deputies responded to take the burglarly report, they became suspicious at how he was reporting the crime," said St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain. "As...

<p>The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana has asked a federal judge to award the organization more than $65,000 in attorneys fees and court costs, stemming from a ruling earlier this month that said Slidell officials broke the law by hanging a portrait of Jesus on the wall at Slidell City Court.</p>

A Slidell-area couple whose house was sold for a $1.63 property tax bill they knew nothing about will have clear title to their home today, thanks to a local businessman who paid to settle a years-old lawsuit with the land company that claimed their property. "I don't even know who to thank," said Dolores Atwood. "But I'm relieved and happy that this is finally over . . . I'm relieved and tired." Atwood and her husband, Kermit, will again be the unquestioned owners of their house at 4122 Dauphine St. because a St. Tammany Parish businessman and his partner volunteered...

In 1996, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office mailed a paltry $1.63 property tax bill for the Slidell-area home of Kermit and Dolores Atwood that never reached its destination. The seemingly innocuous, misaddressed bill was the start of a bizarre legal ordeal that threatens to leave the elderly couple homeless and now stands at the door of the state Supreme Court. The chain of events that followed the wayward property tax bill, including the eventual sale of the home at a sheriff's tax sale, is described by Dolores Atwood as "seven years of emotional hell." "I don't know how much...

A thief who snatched a purse from an 80-year-old woman in Slidell got a 12-year jail sentence after he pleaded guilty Thursday, the St. Tammany Parish district attorney's office said. Curtis James Fletcher, 43, of Slidell was arrested in March after he took the woman's purse in a store parking lot. The woman was headed back to her vehicle after shopping when he came up behind her and took the purse, knocking her to the ground. The woman, whom authorities did not identify, quickly got up and yelled for help. Several bystanders helped police catch Fletcher as he was fleeing....