Incident Report

On April 6, 2009 at 1710 hours, I, Deputy Anderson, was dispatched to the Basin Street Entrance of the St. Louise Cemetery 1. There was a report of vandalism to a tomb. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the complainant Jim DuPuis. Jim DuPuis advised me that he witnessed a man paint three X’s the tomb of Mary Laveau.

Jim DuPuis described the man to me and in his handwritten report as, “a heavyset gentleman in his mid to late twenties, weighing approx 250-300 pounds.” Jim’s account of what happened was also recorded in his handwritten report. Jim states, “This gentleman was spray painting black X’s on the tomb of Mary Leveau. It was approx. 6:45 p.m. I called 9-11, but the gentleman, left the cemetery prior to police arrival. He was carrying a backpack and was dressed in jean shorts with a white T-shirt.” The alleged suspect escaped by passing tomb #122 and leaping over the Consti Street wall. He departed on foot. Jim agreed to do a follow-up with a sketch artist.

After getting the handwritten report from Jim, I reported to the scene of the alleged vandalism. I recovered one can of black aerosol paint, 2 Xanax 1mg tablets, one 23.67 ounce bottle of Absinthe spirits/liquor, and two 4 ounce bottles of Florida Water. These items have been turned over to the lab to test for possible latent fingerprints. I photographed the tomb. There were two black spray paint markings that appeared to be random lines. The largest line was located on the left side of the door and was 37 inches long. The second line was located above the door and was 14.5 inches long.