Four New Orleans men, along with one man and a juvenile from the northshore have been arrested and booked in connection with a rash of vehicle burglaries and thefts which began in May of this year.
In early May, detectives with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and Slidell Police began separately to notice a spike in car burglaries throughout the Slidell area. Chief Randy Smith and Sheriff Jack Strain both dedicated additional resources to area neighborhoods in an attempt to solve the cases. As the investigations evolved and it became apparent they were most likely dealing with the same suspects, the agencies combined forces in a joint investigation. By the end of September, the agencies together had accumulated more than 200 vehicle burglary cases, concentrated mostly in Slidell neighborhoods.
Residential surveillance video from a June, 2012 vehicle burglary yielded an image of a black male suspect who, although unidentified at the time, had a distinguishable tattoo across one of his hands. In September, detectives determined the identity of a man who was known to be in possession of two handguns which matched the description of ones stolen during the burglaries. The man was also known to have a tattoo matching the one visible in the video. After releasing a surveillance photo of the man to the public, detectives from both agencies developed the individual’s identity and possible location.
On September 29, sheriff’s office investigators located the suspect, Raymond Joseph, at his residence, 1602 Chancer Lane, Slidell. Joseph signed a consent to search form for his residence and his vehicle. Detectives located two guns in a hidden compartment in the vehicle. Both guns had been reported stolen: one from inside Slidell city limits and the other from the Kingspoint subdivision outside the city. Joseph was arrested and taken into custody without incident.
Following his arrest, investigators developed leads which implicated several of Joseph’s known acquaintances in the burglaries. Two of them were linked to eight different northshore vehicle thefts as well. After a lengthy investigation, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and Slidell Police secured arrest warrants for Terrell Bellvie, Carnell Massey Jr., Raymond Joseph, Gil Holmes, Arthur Allen, and a 15-year-old juvenile. Between the two agencies, the six men have been booked with more than 150 counts of vehicle burglary.
NAMES / DOB’s / ADDRESSES
Carnell Massey, Jr – 11/22/1994 – 4932 Lafaye St, New Orleans
Terrell Bellvie – 3/8/1993 – 10738 Dreux Ave, New Orleans
Arthur Allen – 10/15/1993 – 4810 Hauck Dr, New Orleans
Gill Holmes – 3/16/1994 – 1916 N. Tonti St, New Orleans
Raymond Joseph – 9/4/1995 – 1602 Chaucer Ln, Slidell
On October 2, 2012, Slidell Police, St. Tammany Parish Sherriff’s Office, NOPD, and the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force conducted a warrant roundup in New Orleans and successfully arrested Bellvie, Massey, Holmes, and Allen. The 15-year old juvenile and Raymond Joseph were located and arrested on the northshore. At several of the suspects’ residences, detectives located stolen laptop computers, three guns and electronics which were linked to the northshore burglaries. One of the three guns was linked to a southshore vehicle burglary.
During questioning by detectives, it was determined that Joseph and Allen were also responsible for eight different northshore vehicle thefts. Two of the vehicles were stolen from the same Eden Isles residence; the remaining six were stolen from various residences in the Kingspoint subdivision outside Slidell city limits. Joseph was booked with seven counts of vehicle theft, Allen was booked with six counts of vehicle theft.
Massey, Joseph, Holmes, Allen, and the 15-year-old juvenile were booked with 79 counts of simple burglary, and Bellvie was booked with 33 counts of burglary. Bellvie, who was incarcerated on a first degree murder charge in New Orleans, didn’t join the burglary ring until the latter part of September.
