NEW ORLEANS — Another big sporting event in downtown New Orleans and another day of reported car burglaries in at least one nearby lot as fans watched the Saints-Panthers game.
However, as angry fans returned to their cars, New Orleans Police did report some success with the arrest of three people breaking into cars in a parking garage in the CBD.
Police said they arrested 20-year-old Aldolphus Wilson, 18-year-old Brianzell Edgar, and a 17-year-old male in connection with the auto burglaries and attempted auto thefts.
Police credited the “deployed, directed patrols” in the area with allowing officers to quickly respond and make the arrests.
That success was tempered with the news that a string of cars was broken into in a private lot. The victims said at least one car was stolen.
A parking lot on South Rampart was the site of several of the break-ins with glass from shattered car windows on the ground and people waiting for a police response.
“I took the opportunity to my son to his first game this morning," said one victim. "I took him to his first game… and then we came out to see that the car had been broken into. It’s got to be worth it to come down here and I don’t know if it’s worth it.”
The recent rash of car burglaries that have centered on sporting events led Interim Police Superintendent Michelle Woodfork to announce the deployed patrols around the events.
The problem of fans coming out of the games to find their car windows smashed and items stolen had become such a regular and unsettling occurrence that the New Orleans Pelicans said that something needed to be done.
A spokesperson for the Saints and Pelicans organization said that they are "very concerned" and that the "constant" car break-ins outside the Smoothie King Center and Caesars Superdome have caught the attention of the NFL and NBA at a time when the Pelicans are championship contenders and New Orleans is preparing to host a Super Bowl in 2025.