NEW ORLEANS — It was like adding insult to injury for some Saints fans.
During the second half of Thursday night’s loss to the Cowboys, vandals were breaking into dozens of vehicles on the street, not far from the Caesar’s Superdome. Security video shows two men smashing windows and rummaging through cars and trucks near Earhart Blvd. and Claiborne Avenue.
That’s a popular free spot for Black and Gold fans to park. Gerald Arnaud said when he got back to his truck after the game, there was glass everywhere.
“It’s just sad for somebody to come here and just go through people’s vehicles and bust their windows and ransack them,” Arnaud said.
Ken Colley runs a freight warehouse across the street from where some of the vandalized cars were parked. His workers swept up the broken glass.
“It’s bad enough that the Saints lost, but then they find out their truck or car’s been burglarized and it’s a whole new set of problems,” Colley said. “It’s a black eye to the city itself. People come here to enjoy the game.”
Brenda Vandermeer from Abita Springs said her car was burglarized in the 1000 block of Howard Avenue just blocks from the dome.
“My son and I have been going to the games for years and have never had anything like this happen,” Vandermeer said. “But of course, I think the crime hasn’t been as bad in the city as it is now either.”
People who work at businesses outside the dome claim vehicles are burglarized on the street there on a regular basis. They try to discourage drivers from parking there at night.
“I tell them you better try to get somebody to stay here or go park somewhere else because it’s a problem that’s been going on for a long time,” Colley said. “It was more this time than normal.”
New Orleans police confirm they are investigating a string of reported vehicle burglaries in the area of the dome.
“I guess they just have nothing else to do, man, just come out here and just take from people,” Arnaud said.
“You want people to come to visit, come and spend money, but things like this happen and you get a bad taste in your mouth,” Vandermeer said.
Police are still tallying up the number of car burglary victims.