[StBernard] Bond is $250, 000 for man held in theft of Christmas gifts from St. Bernard church

[Westley Annis]

Bond is $250,000 for man held in theft of Christmas gifts from St. Bernard
church
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
December 29, 2009, 12:10PM


A judge in St. Bernard Parish has ordered that a man arrested for
burglarizing a Violet church and stealing presents that church members had
gathered for poor families be held on $250,000 bond. 

State District Judge Robert Buckley on Monday set the bond for Herman
"Peter'' Smiles, who is accused of burglarizing Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church on Dec. 20.

Smiles, St. Bernard Parish authorities said, confessed to hurling a concrete
block through a church window and rifling through presents parishioners had
gathered for the church's gift distribution to needy families in the area.

Smiles, 45, was booked with burglary of a religious building and a parole
violation after his arrest Dec. 23. He told deputies he made two trips
carrying stolen gifts from the church to his room in his mother's house
nearby.


A man who allegedly smokes crack with Smiles told deputies that Smiles was
responsible for the heist. 

Meanwhile, news of the burglary and church members' dismay that their hard
work to bring cheer to poor families during Christmas might be for naught,
sparked an outpouring from residents throughout the metro area and beyond,
who donated toys, gifts and money. On Dec. 23, the church was able to
distribute gifts to more than 100 families that might otherwise have had
none.

Smiles remains in St. Bernard Parish Prison in Chalmette