NEW ORLEANS — A Houston couple says a law enforcement decision to track their stolen pickup instead of retrieving it allowed criminals to commit more crimes and put everyone in the city in jeopardy.
Minnie and Stephen Washington told NOLA.com's Gabriella Killett that their Chevy Silverado was stolen shortly after they left it for valet parking at Harrah’s Hotel Monday night.
NOLA.com reported that the Washingtons said police took 15 hours to respond to the report of the stolen vehicle and, court documents showed officers found the vehicle in the 4400 block of Skyview Drive in New Orleans East. A GPS device was placed in the vehicle to track its future movements rather than retrieving it.
Police were tracking the vehicle on Wednesday as it moved round the Central Business District and the court documents said that during the tracking, the vehicle stopped in front of a fast food restaurant where one of the people in the vehicle hopped out and stole another car that had been left running.
Police again tracked the Silverado as it returned to the CBD and a short time later gunshots were heard and two people were injured.
A short time later, the Washingtons’ Silverado was found on fire under the Seabrook Bridge.
Bryceson Jones was booked with two counts of attempted murder, possessing a machine gun, two counts of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm during a violent crime and one count of aggravated arson for allegedly torching the getaway truck, a Chevy Silverado, court records show.
The two shooting victims were rushed to a local hospital with unspecified bullet wounds.
The preliminary police report reveals that a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old were taken into custody as officers stormed the house in search of Jones, who was captured in an attic after a tactical unit used tear gas to smoke him out.
The 16-year-old was captured while trying to jump over a fence of the house, the report states.
Officers recovered two assault rifles that they say matched shell casings found at the CBD shooting scene at Common and Carondelet streets at about 3:47 p.m.
In addition to the assault rifles, detectives armed with a search warrant recovered two Glock pistols, one with an extended magazine, an illegal machine gun, and “several articles of clothing hidden inside the attic where the subjects were hiding, which matched what they were observed wearing throughout the day.”
The Washingtons said they were incredulous as their trip into the city for a good time ended with a stolen vehicle that they say police took 15 hours to respond to, a destroyed vehicle and the knowledge that their Silverado was used in a shooting and that all the while law enforcement was tracking but not engaging the people in the stolen SUV.
"Why did you use our truck as bait?" Minnie Washington said Saturday. "I feel like this was 100% preventable.
"They waited until they committed the crimes and then went and got them."
NOLA.com said police had not responded to a request for comment as of 4 p.m. Sunday.
