The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, along with the Central Woods Neighborhood Watch Group, will host a Meet-and-Greet Barbeque this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the newly-restored Kolby BREC Park located at 15500 Central Woods Dr. The event will have food and drinks, a raffle for prizes and a Bounce-N-Around inflatable for kids. Deputies from the Central substation will be on hand to talk to residents.  

In an effort to create a safer environment for residents and to work to decrease drug activity and crime, the EBRSO Community Services Division worked with Central Woods residents to form a Neighborhood Watch Group in January 2009. Since its establishment, the group has worked with the Central City Mayor, BREC, and the Sheriff’s Office in cleaning and restoring the neighborhood’s Kolby BREC Park. The area has also seen a decrease in drug activity and crime due to the proactive residents who say they are committed to make a difference in their community. The group meets every other month on the third Sunday at Kolby Park at 3:00 p.m. The next meeting will be held September 20^th.  

This event is one of many initiatives the Sheriff’s Office is implementing this summer. Earlier this month the Sheriff’s Office along with the Baton Rouge Constable’s Office carried out a warrant round-up and safety event in Central Woods, in which more than 30 law enforcement personnel went into the area, conducted criminal patrols, setup traffic safety checkpoints and went door-to-door to talk to residents. The initiative resulted in 13 arrests and the clearing of 56 outstanding warrants.

“This is not about being here today and gone tomorrow,” Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said. “This is about building a relationship with residents in order to make our community safer for everyone. Crime is a community problem, and it takes all of us working together to fix it.”

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office sponsors numerous Neighborhood Watch Programs across the parish. The program seeks to team residents up with law enforcement in order to teach residents how to be proactive in their safety and the safety of their community. In the program, deputies teach residents safety tips and attempt to address special concerns of a given neighborhood. Deputies also work to bring residents together in order to enhance communication and help them to look out for one another. For more information about the program, or to request a meeting, contact the Sheriff’s Office at 389-5086.

The Central Commmunity Theatre will be putting on Seussical starting at the end of this month. This fun show will feature singing, dancing, and acting by Central area children and teens. The performances run from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2. Tickets are on sale now for all shows. The performance schedule includes 7 PM shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as 2 PM matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $14 each, and they may be Ordered Online with a credit card for a fee of $0.99.

 Yesterday evening East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Detectives arrested Billy Joe Hebert, 31, for the murder of 45-year-old David King Jr. of 12150 Hooper Road. Hebert and King allegedly met at a men’s shelter in Livingston Parish and lived together in a motel for a short time before King obtained the trailer in Central where his body was discovered by his landlord yesterday morning.

 Detectives responded to a call at 9:52 Monday morning in reference to a deceased male at 12150 Hooper Road in the trailer park behind the Winn Dixie. Upon arrival, detectives found 45-year-old David King Jr. dead inside his trailer. According to the coroner’s initial findings, King was the victim of foul play and had been dead at least 24 hours. There was no sign of forced entry into the trailer, and detectives noted King’s pants pocket had been turned inside out.  Detectives also found a large amount of blood near King’s body and a single strand of hair in King’s hand.  The hair did not appear to belong to the King, as it was shorter and of a different color. All evidence collected was sent to the LSP Crime Lab for analysis.

 During the course of the investigation detectives were able to contact King’s boss who said King owned a small gray Isuzu pickup truck.  The truck was missing from King’s trailer at the time his body was discovered. King’s boss also said King was paid $246 on Friday. At the time his body was discovered, detectives could not find King’s keys, wallet or money. An acquaintance of King told detectives that King had recently moved from another state and did not have many friends. However, King did befriend a man at a men’s shelter known only to him as BJ.

 Detectives made contact with the trailer park manager who stated King moved into his trailer on Saturday, July 11, 2009 alone. A witness reported seeing King with a white male, alleged to be BJ, that same day.  The witness said they saw King and his friend in the gray Isuzu truck and later the same day at the nearby Winn Dixie Store.  The witness said they last saw the truck  parked at King’s trailer Saturday evening.  According to the witness it was no longer there Sunday morning.

 The staff at the men’s shelter in Livingston parish identified BJ as Billy Joe Hebert.  Staff members informed detectives Hebert and King became friends while at the shelter.  After leaving the shelter, the two were roommates at a motel, until King obtained the trailer in Central. 

 While leaving the shelter in Livingston Parish detectives were traveling on Florida Boulevard when they saw King’s truck backed into a parking space in the parking lot of the Village Inn Motel, located at 1210 Florida Blvd, Denham Springs, LA.  Detectives saw Hebert come out and get into the truck. At that time, detectives detained Hebert and obtained a search warrant for his hotel room.  Detectives, along with the assistance of Denham Springs Police Department,  executed the search warrant and collected items belonging to Hebert, and sent them to LSP Crime Lab for further analysis.  Detectives also found a Village Inn Hotel receipt indicating Hebert checked in on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 4:32 a.m. and paid $236.25 cash for a week’s stay. 

 While interviewing Hebert, he admitted he knew King and was with him at his trailer on Saturday, and that they went to Winn Dixie and ran other errands. According to Hebert, he left King’s trailer, went back to his motel room in West Baton Rouge Parish, and then decided to move out at approximately 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  Detectives met with management at the motel in West Baton Rouge Parish and learned Hebert had not checked into the motel as he previously stated.

 Hebert said that King gave him the Isuzu truck, and he planned to pay for it at a later date when he got a job. An acquaintance of King’s said that the King would not have given his truck away, and that he declined to sell it when the witness offered to buy it.

 When confronted with witness statements and evidence obtained from the scene, Hebert asked for an attorney, and the interview was stopped. Detectives booked Hebert into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for First-Degree Murder.

 Detectives have been unable to locate any relatives of King to notify them of his death.

 Anyone with information as to this incident is asked to contact the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office at 225-389-5000, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at (225) 344- STOP or (225) 344-7867.

Central Intermediate School has teamed up with Office Depot to earn general school supplies for the school. When anyone goes to Office Depot and purchases certain items, mainly things that qualify as student school supplies, 5% of that purchase price gets donated to the chosen school in the form of an Office Depot card for supply purchases. Any time you visit Office Depot, give the cashier the school ID# when you check out. The Central Intermediate School ID# is 70218000. This is a great opportunity to do some back to school shopping and to earn school supplies for Central Intermediate at the same time. For full fundraiser details and to see the school supply lists for the upcoming school year, visit the Central Intermediate School Website.

Beginning earlier this month, the half-cent sales tax has gone into effect in Central, putting the local sales tax rate at 4.5% for a total of 9.5% sales tax. This increase is due to the school tax vote that will benefit the Central Community School System. To futher benefit our city, please remember to always use “Central, La” is you home city when ordering products by mail. This will provide the city of Central with sales tax benefits from these purchases. Visit the Central Government Website for full details.

From August 28 to August 30, Camp Istrouma will be hosting a father/son retreat called “Grounded.” The camp is open to all fathers and sons who would like to experience Christian worship and fellowship. Camps at Camp Istrouma require registration ahead of time, so claim your spots as soon as possible by completing and mailing in the Registration Form on Camp Istrouma’s website.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, the Baton Rouge Constable’s Office, and the Delta Drug Task Force have been working together on a summer initiative to create a safer place for residents of several areas. On Tuesday evening, they came together for Central Woods residents, arresting 13 people who had outstanding warrents, towing 3 cars with no proof of insurance, and clearing 56 warrants in the process. The law enforcement officials spoke to the neighborhood residents to gain a better understanding of their needs and to talk about making Central Woods a crime- and drug-free environment. Visit the Central Government Website for more information.

The following are the 2009 dates for the Central High School varsity football games. The season will officially begin with the September 4 game against Port Allen, but the Wildcats will first have a scrimmage at home vs. Comeaux on August 20 and a jamboree at home vs. W. Feliciana on August 25. The October 23 game against Walker will be the Homecoming game this year. Games are scheduled to begin at 7:00.

Here is the 2009 football schedule for the Central Private Varsity Football Team:

Keep up with the Central Private Football schedule and check up on how the team is doing this season by visiting the athletics section of the Central Private Website.