[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish deputies catch burglars in act in vacant Chalmette home

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish deputies catch burglars in act in vacant Chalmette home
Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 1:39 PM     Updated: Wednesday,
August 18, 2010, 1:51 PM
 Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
 
Two men burglarizing a vacant Chalmette house caused more than $10,000 in
damages by cutting water pipes that flooded the house and cutting and
damaging the outside air conditioning unit, St. Bernard Parish authorities
said.

Joshua "J.C.'' Gibbens, 25, of New Orleans, and Wayne Scardino, 17, of
Chalmette, were caught in the act and booked in connection with the Monday
incident, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office said. Both were booked
with residential burglary and criminal damage over $2,000, the Sheriff's
Office said. Gibbens was also booked with resisting an officer by flight,
resisting arrest and on a theft warrant from Ouachita Parish.

Deputies converged on the scene after receiving a report Monday afternoon
that two men were cutting wire from an air conditioning unit in the back of
a house in the 2700 block of Packenham Drive. Scardino surrendered. 

Gibbens fled, but eventually was caught inside the residence next door to
the house that was burglarized and vandalized. A woman who lives at that
house, Erika Breland, told deputies that no one was in the house, but they
heard noises from upstairs and found Gibbens hiding under a bed. Breland,
21, of Chalmette, was booked with obstruction of justice, the Sheriff's
Office said.

The vacant house, which the owner had just renovated and put up for rent,
was heavily damaged, with water flooding the floors and large holes in the
drywall where pipes had been cut, the Sheriff's Office said.

"I'm glad our officers caught these punks and they are in jail now,'' St.
Bernard Sheriff Jack Stephens said. "People like this have no respect for
the property of others or the hardship they cause. They think only of the
next dollar they can make selling what they steal.''

Gibbens was in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of $30,000 bond. Scardino
was being held there in lieu of $25,000 bond. Breland was released from
custody, the Sheriff's Office said.