NEW ORLEANS — A pastor in the Lower Ninth Ward shared surveillance video from his church that showed what appeared to be teens getting into parked cars behind the church and rummaging through them in the middle of the night. Police are now investigating.
Pastor Louis Hunter is with Eagle's Wings Ministries. He received a call early Monday morning that three cars were parked behind his church. He looked through the surveillance footage and realized the cars and four people were behind his church for more than five hours overnight.
The footage begins at 2:45 a.m. Monday. It shows a white car driving up behind the church and leaving 20 minutes later. Then at 4:45 a.m., three cars pull up with at least four people.
"They look like they're from the ages of 13 and 16," Pastor Hunter said. "As I was watching it, I was just thinking how lost these people are."
The men are seen rummaging through the cars, throwing out papers and documents, including a car's registration which Pastor Hunter found. That's why he believes the cars may have been stolen. He handed the registration over to the police to find the car's owner.
"They took all the paperwork that was in the vehicles, they threw them on the ground and everything," he said.
They are seen leaving and coming back several times until 8 a.m.
"I know two of them was Hyundais," Pastor Hunter said.
Kias and Hyundais have been targeted as thieves have learned how to easily steal them. Pastor Hunter called the police.
"They responded right away, came out, asked for the footage," he said.
The NOPD said they are investigating this, but said it's unclear if the incident involves stolen vehicles. Pastor Hunter has made up his mind.
"All three of them were stolen of course, they knew all three of them were stolen vehicles because of the age of the kids," he said.
Seeing young people out at night, possibly being involved in criminal activity, reminds Pastor Hunter of why his late father founded the church.
"It was founded through the murder of my brother. At 16 years old he was murdered in the streets of the Lower Ninth Ward. God gave my father a vision in the shower that young people would surround him so my church is built around young people," Pastor Hunter said.
He's asking for parents and the community to step up.
"At 2 o’clock in the morning, how you don’t know where your 13, 14, 15-year-old son is? Accountability must be held among the parenting," he said. "Not only parenting, it has to be held among the system. We can't just keep slapping them on the wrist and letting them out. We have to hold them accountable."
Anyone who may have information that can assist is urged to call detectives at 504-658-6050 or to call anonymously to Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
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