NEW ORLEANS — Chewbacchus made its triumphant return to St. Claude Avenue Saturday.
The parade was cut short just days before it rolled in 2022 due to an NOPD manpower shortage and COVID-19, but they wouldn't be held back again.
"We worked with City Councilman Freddie King, and we did prep all year long," Chewbacchus Overlord Simonette Berry said. "We figured out how to hire additional security and, so, when it came time for filling our permits, we were ready to go."
That security was on a lot of people's minds before the parade started.
"We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls at both businesses asking if it’s safe to park around here," Mowgli Pierlas, owner of Arabell's Casa di Pasta and co-owner of Kajun's, said.
Pierlas said Chewbacchus is their biggest night of the year and having the parade back outside his front door is great news. But the drastic uptick in stolen cars across New Orleans has customers on edge.
"Obviously, it affects business," Pierlas said. "It affects the city in a negative way. It makes us look bad and my main concern is that we just keep talking about the problem and nobody has a viable solution to this problem.”
According to City Council's crime dashboard, there have been more than 600 cars stolen in New Orleans so far this year -- and nearly 500 car burglaries.
It's a problem happening across the country. Larger cities like Philadelphia, St. Louis and Chicago are also seeing a surge in car thefts, especially Kias and Hyundais.
Interim New Orleans Police Chief Michelle Woodfork deployed more police patrols to car break-in hotspots, like the parking lots outside Saints and Pelicans games. The City will also be bringing in police officers from outside Orleans Parish to supplement NOPD along parade routes.
On Saturday night, people we spoke with said the increased police presence a parade brings gave them a sense of security, but if that doesn't keep would-be thieves away, they're hoping something else will.
"I also would like to think that, you know, during Mardi Gras, everyone's a little extra happy and hopefully the spirit moves them to not be (sic)," Sarah Peters said as she walked to the parade.
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