Louisiana
Bank Robber with Ties to Lafayette Has Surrendered
New Orleans, LA (KPEL News) – We don’t often hear about bank robberies these days. Most of us think about gun slingers on horseback when we hear the phrase “bank robbers.” Technology has prevented many such crimes in Louisiana and around the country, so when we hear about one, it jumps out. Such was the case recently in Baton Rouge.
The FBI put out a wanted notice for a 22-year-old fast food worker with a butterfly tattoo on her neck who allegedly walked into a Chase Bank on Highland Road in Baton Rouge in October of 2023. Jazmine Johnnie handed the teller a note demanding $45,000 and claiming that she had a bomb in her purse. Johnnie also threatened that her boyfriend was armed with an AK-47. She left the bank with $3500 in cash and drove away in a gray Dodge Challenger.
A federal arrest warrant on bank robbery charges was issued in February, and a “wanted” release went out to Louisiana media on Friday, May 3. The FBI said Johnnie had known ties in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, as well as in Houston and Huntsville, Alabama.
On Monday, May 6, the agency sent a notice that Johnnie had surrendered herself to Baton Rouge authorities over the weekend.
Anyone with information about any of the fugitives wanted by the FBI is asked to contact them at 1-800-CALLFBI or submit a tip through their website at https://tips.fbi.gov/. You’ll notice that some of the rewards for information are as high as $250,000 if the tip leads to an apprehension.
FBI Offers Cash Reward For 5 Paintings Stolen in Dallas, Texas
Have you seen any of these paintings? If you have any information regarding their disappearance, please contact the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office at (505) 889-1300.
Gallery Credit: Chrissy
FBI Says YOU Need to Watch Out for These Scams
These scams are hitting people and the FBI doesn’t want you to become the next victim.
Gallery Credit: Billy Jenkins
Louisiana
What a hyperactive hurricane season means for Louisiana’s oil and natural gas industry
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its most aggressive Atlantic hurricane season forecast on record.
Due to near-record water temperatures and the development of La Niña conditions in the Pacific, NOAA predicts an 85% chance of an above-average season with between 17 and 25 total named storms. A typical year averages about 14 named storms.
A particularly intense Atlantic hurricane season would pose a significant threat to the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, as refineries along the Gulf Coast—many of which are located in Louisiana—account for nearly half of U.S. refining capacity. Those refineries risk flooding and power outages in the event of a major storm, and many operators will evacuate nonessential personnel and halt production if they believe severe weather might damage facilities or injure employees, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Refineries along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, including ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge refinery, account for 3.3 million barrels per day of refining capacity. More than 1 million bpd of capacity could be taken offline in anticipation of a major storm, and refineries that sustain major damage or flooding may be taken offline for longer periods.
In severe cases, the EIA notes, damage may lead to a refinery permanently closing. Notably, Phillips 66’s Alliance refinery in Belle Chase closed in 2021 after sustaining major damage from Hurricane Ida.
Offshore crude oil and natural gas production units must contend with some of the most severe hazards associated with hurricanes and tropical storms, and they too will evacuate nonessential personnel and halt production if necessary. In 2023, Gulf of Mexico crude oil production accounted for 14% of U.S. crude oil production; Gulf of Mexico natural gas production, 2% of U.S. natural gas production.
According to the EIA, hurricanes could also disrupt supply chains for petroleum products, as fuel supplies are shipped on barges from Gulf Coast refineries such as those in Louisiana and Texas.
All this to say: An intense Atlantic hurricane season has the potential to significantly disrupt oil and natural gas production along the Gulf Coast, and that’s something that could send shockwaves throughout the entire U.S. oil and natural gas industry.
Louisiana
Manhunt in Louisiana for 4 escapees, including 3 homicide suspects
Authorities in Louisiana are searching for four inmates who escaped from the Tangipahoa Parish Jail, just north of New Orleans — and three of the four are homicide suspects, the parish sheriff’s office says.
Sheriff Daniel Edwards said in a statement that they got out through the jail’s perimeter fence during recreation time on the yard.
Later inspection showed that “a section of the fence was … vulnerable and easily maneuvered in such a way that a small statured body could slide through.”
The three homicide suspects were identified as Omarion Hookfin, 19, of Hammond, La.; Avery Guidry, also 19, of Natalbany, La.; and Travon Johnson, 21, also from Natalbany.
The fourth escapee was Jamarcus Cyprian, 20, of Amity, La., the office said.
Hookfin, Guidry and Johnson were behind bars for their alleged roles in a 2022 homicide in Hammond, and Cyprian was doing time on armed robbery and weapons charges, the office said, with more time tacked on for alleged aggravated battery while he was locked up in Catahoula Parish.
CBS New Orlans affiliate WWL-TV reports that the counts against Johnson, Hookfin and Guidry stemmed from a 2022 home invasion in Hammond that ended with a 33-year-old man dead and his 12-year-old daughter hospitalized.
Louisiana
Southeast Louisiana’s first heat advisory of 2024 issued for Memorial Day
Southeast Louisiana’s first heat advisory of 2024 will go into effect on Memorial Day, when National Weather Service forecasters expect to see the kinds of high temperatures and humidity that often lead to heat-related illnesses.
The advisory will be effectual from noon to 8 p.m. on Monday and includes most of southeast Louisiana and parts of southern Mississippi. Forecasters expect to see daytime highs in the low to mid 90s in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, with heat index values, or “feels like” temperatures, nearing 108 degrees.
Forecasters said residents should take extra precautions while outside in these conditions. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing, drink plenty of water, try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening and watch out for the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
There’s also a chance that severe thunderstorms could hit portions of southeast Louisiana Monday evening, particularly in areas north of Interstate 10. The storms could bring gusty winds of up to 60 mph and large hail, according to the National Weather Service.
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