NEW ORLEANS — Neighbors in the Mid-City area say they welcome the extra protection and presence of the Louisiana State Police in their area.
Friday night, Troop NOLA chased a black Infinity that fled the scene of a traffic stop around Esplanade and Miro.
The infinity crashed into a white Lexus causing it to flip over. That driver suffered minor injuries.
Troopers arrested Harold Jerome and David Hall, both who are 20-years-old, after they jumped out of the car and tried to run away.
The troopers say they both had guns.
State police say they are making many more arrests since adding more troopers to the ones already assigned to Troop NOLA.
“Since the beginning of September, we have had additional troopers, somewhere between 30 and 40 additional troopers from around the state, here to assist the permanently assigned Troop NOLA troopers," said Sgt. Kate Stegall, Louisiana State Police Public Affairs Officer. "It's been very effective. We have had a significant amount of arrests”.
“I think it's great," said Mid-City resident Keely Peters-Mack. "All this carjacking and robbing is terrible, and you have a lot of elderly people. They robbing a lot of elderly people and stuff, and I really think it's great that they're out patrolling and taking on more crime stuff."
The additional policing by state police that began earlier this month, is a proactive program called Operation Strike and is throughout Orleans Parish.
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