[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish worker arrested in thefts

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish worker arrested in thefts

Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 9:00 PM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

Former NFL football player and St. Bernard Parish government employee Jeff
Sanchez was arrested Tuesday, apparently on suspicion of stealing parish
equipment, authorities said. Sanchez, 31 of Violet, is the third parish
employee arrested in January.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff-elect Jimmy Pohlmann and Parish President Dave
Peralta confirmed the recent arrest after The Times-Picayune received a tip.
Pohlmann said sheriff's detectives arrested Sanchez on two counts of theft
of more than $500 and two counts of possession of stolen property worth more
than $500.

Neither Pohlmann nor Peralta would provide additional information on the
nature of the arrests, saying they didn't want to jeopardize an ongoing
investigation that Pohlmann said could lead to more arrests.

Peralta said the administration initiated the investigation upon taking over
parish government earlier in January from Parish President Craig Taffaro.

Taffaro, who coached Sanchez at Archbishop Hannan High School, named Sanchez
recreation department program manager in August. Sanchez remained in that
position under Peralta.

An All-State running back at Hannan, Sanchez played running back and
cornerback at Tulane University before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys,
remaining with the team through the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

After being traded to the Detroit Lions, he went on to the NFL European
League, the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League.

As the parish's recreation program manager, he guides the development of
training programs for all sports offered by the department, including
football, basketball, baseball and soccer. Sanchez started a program urging
parents to donate their children's old football cleats so they could be
reused by children who can't afford to purchase new ones.

Earlier in January, St. Bernard Public Works employees Glenn Rocher, 31, of
Chalmette, and Rickey Diecidue, 53, of Violet, were arrested for allegedly
stealing parish equipment and selling it as scrap. They'd both worked for
the parish road department for more than two years.

At that time, Peralta said an investigation was continuing into other
unsolved thefts of parish materials.

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch at timespicayune.com or
504.826.3321.

C 2012 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.