Free Republic

A New Orleans Police Department recruit was arrested Thursday (Oct. 13) in connection a burglary at a Mandeville salon. Jacob Dye, 21, surrendered to Mandeville police and was booked into St. Tammany Parish jail on one count of simple burglary of a business. Dye was hired by NOPD in December of last year and was in field training at the time of his arrest, said NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble. He has been placed on unpaid emergency suspension following his arrest, Gamble said.

An FBI-led SWAT team arrested the leader of a Louisiana militia Thursday morning (Aug. 25) in Mandeville on federal charges of dealing methamphetamine and possessing a firearm "in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime," according to the U.S Attorney's Office in New Orleans. James Moore, 46, of Talisheek, a small St. Tammany Parish community near the Mississippi border, reportedly came to the attention of federal authorities during an FBI Domestic Terrorism investigation. Federal investigators suspect Moore was dealing "large quantities" of methamphetamine.

A legally-armed citizen who fatally shot an attacker at a Mandeville convenience store in April will not be prosecuted, St. Tammany Parish District Attorney Warren Montgomry said Friday (May 27). Mandeville police investigators concluded Shawn Breland, 42, of Folsom, was the aggressor at the Shell gasoline station and convenience store at 3959 Louisiana 22. "Although Mr. Breland's death is a tragedy, this office agrees that the shooting was legally justified under the circumstances and will not pursue criminal changes based on the evidence submitted to date," Montgomery said in a news release that included surveillance camera video of the incident....

St. Tammany Parish authorities are investigating the distribution over the weekend of Ku Klux Klan fliers in a community near Mandeville. The range of the distribution remained unclear Tuesday morning (Aug. 11). "I don't know if we're ever going to get a clear picture of how many there were," said Capt. George Bonnett, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. "Someone was just kind of driving down the street, flinging them in front yards." The yards were in the Hidden Pines subdivision. Some residents reported finding plastic sandwich bags weighted with a rock or a piece of candy....

A Bush man was found guilty on Wednesday of having helped Dominic Robinson escape and cover up evidence after the killing of Samantha Jaume, the Mandeville-area homemaker murdered in front of her children on Independence Day, 2001. A St. Tammany Parish jury took less than an hour to find Zlatico "Zack" Brujic, 33, guilty of obstruction of justice, a charge that - because Brujic has a prior felony on his record - could garner 20 to 80 years in prison. State Judge Raymond Childress scheduled sentencing for Dec. 16. On July 4, 2001, Robinson followed Jaume, 25, and her four...

A report released today says Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price may have violated state laws in a number of ways. First, by using public money and assets for personal purposes. The Legislative Auditor's report says Price allegedly used his city issued credit card for more than $50,000 in personal purchases. The report says: "From September 2003 through March 2008, Mayor Price made 620 credit card transactions totaling $56,733... Of the amounts charged, we noted 65 personal charges by Mayor Price totaling $8,845; 356 charges for meals totaling $36,103 that lacked proper documentation; and 15 charges relating to parties and celebratory functions...

The co-owner and president of SpeeDee Oil Change was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail and two years of home incarceration for aggravated second-degree battery after a February trial that included an allegation that Mandeville's mayor had used undue influence in helping his well-heeled acquaintance.