Copper thieves hit cemeteries Restlawn ravaged; 800 urns stolen Submitted by N.O.V.A. January 2007 Times Picayune December 15, 2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ As if looting homes, stripping schools and stealing from churches wasn't bad enough, copper thievery in post-Katrina times has descended to a new level of depravity: grave desecration. In just the past 10 days, more than 800 flower urns have been stolen from gravesites at Restlawn Park Cemetery, 4040 West U.S. 90, Avondale, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said Thursday. Most of the vases, made of copper and brass and bought by loved ones for about $400, have more than likely been sold by the thieves to local scrap dealers for about $5. That's definitely the case with 106 of the urns, which turned up in a Jefferson scrap yard this week, deputies said. The Sheriff's Office arrested two men who were reportedly caught with about 18 of the urns Tuesday. But authorities are looking for a Waggaman man they think may have been behind most of the urn thefts. The cemetery burglaries are just the latest symptom in the copper-mania that officials say has reached a fever pitch in Jefferson and Orleans parishes. "People will go anywhere that there is a market. Anything they can steal to turn to cash quick," said Deputy Chief Fred Williams, commander of the Sheriff's Office Investigation Bureau. Suspect named Jefferson investigators have issued an arrest warrant for receiving stolen property for James Delaune, 21, of Waggaman. They believe he masterminded the thefts from Restlawn, Lee said. Officials said 802 urns and seven gravestone markers have been stolen from the cemetery since Dec. 5. No one from Restlawn returned telephone calls for comment Thursday. Investigators learned about Delaune after arresting James Addison, 48, of Waggaman. Addison and George Gibson, 46, of Avondale, were pulled over Tuesday morning at Beechgrove Boulevard and the West Bank Expressway in Avondale by a deputy sheriff who noticed several urns in the back of their pickup truck, said Col. Ken Meynard, commander of the property crimes division. Addison told authorities he was on his way to sell them at TP Recycling, a Jefferson scrap dealer on Jefferson Highway near the Orleans Parish line, Meynard said. Twice-stolen goods Addison also said he didn't get the urns directly from the cemetery. Instead, he told deputies he took them from Delaune, who grabbed them from Restlawn. Apparently, Delaune -- who was dating Addison's niece -- had taken the urns from the gravestones and tossed them over a fence there, planning to retrieve them later, Meynard said. But Addison got to some of them first, authorities said. Investigators turned their attention Wednesday to TP Recycling, where they found 106 stolen urns, Meynard said. The owner was given a misdemeanor citation for improper record-keeping, Normand said. Since state law requires a record of any such transaction, investigators think Delaune persuaded Wylene Smith, 44, of Bridge City, to sell the urns under her name. While Smith, Addison and Gibson were arrested and booked with receiving stolen property, Delaune was still on the loose Thursday, investigators said. The three who were arrested were released Wednesday evening because of crowding at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Restlawn was hit again overnight Wednesday, but Lee said he's unsure whether the culprits were the suspects released from the jail. Loved ones hurt What is clear is the effect the thefts are having on families visiting the graves of loved ones. Lori Phipps and her sister were stunned by what they saw when they drove up to Restlawn Cemetery on Thursday morning. Every year around this time, Phipps and her family gather there for a memorial to her nephew Michael Nguyen, who died four years ago. "This morning, my sister and I went out there to bring flowers to her son. The whole cemetery looked like a bomb had gone off ," said Phipps of Brandon, Miss., with piles of flowers and dirt scattered about where they had been dumped from the urns. "There's just flowers everywhere. "I started looking around and all the vases were gone. My sister couldn't even speak," she said. Copper thefts have been a problem across the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement authorities have said. Thieves have stolen the front railing from St. Patrick's Catholic Church in New Orleans and stripped copper wiring from flood-ruined schools. Two men were arrested for allegedly stealing copper from 58 homes in Chalmette. Opportunities abound Authorities have said the local copper craze has been driven by the increase in international copper prices, which have doubled in a year, combined with the availability of the metal -- an essential building material -- in the numerous vacant homes and apartment complexes in the area. Also a problem is the handful of local and nomadic scrap dealers who don't ask enough questions or follow state-mandated procedures. Lee said his office is still investigating TP Recycling and looking into the possibility of leveling a charge of receiving stolen goods at the business. TP Recycling Manager Sharon Li said Thursday that workers there thought the urns were regular waste. General Manager Clyde Sistrunk said his company never bought any of the urns before Wednesday, and that Sheriff's Office investigators arrived not long after the urns arrived. Sistrunk insisted that TP Recycling abides by all Jefferson and Orleans parish rules by photocopying identification and keeping a record of transactions. "This is not a business that does illegal transactions," he said. "We've complied with these guys to the fullest." Normand said the Sheriff's Office will step up enforcement efforts and vowed to put pressure on recycling centers, as well as the burglars. But the thefts at Restlawn have already taken their toll on the family of Michael Nguyen. "We always do this as a family every year," Phipps said of the memorial. Michael "died in my sister's arms. He took his last breath in my sister's arms. She's just really devastated."