Burglars break into home of country's longest-serving police officer just hours after his death

Sgt. Manuel Curry, popular figure in Central City and Irish Channel neighborhoods and one of America's longest-serving police officers, is pictured here in 2004 as he was about to leave for D-Day ceremony in France. Curry participated in the famous World War II invasion.







A D-Day vet who subsequently served as a police officer for sixty-two years--making him the longest-serving police officer in this country--dies, and this is the respect that he gets from three shitbirds who will never be anything close to his equal.

Sgt. Manuel Curry's death last week of heart failure brought a wave of despair and an outpouring of support from the ranks of the New Orleans Police Department and the neighborhoods where Curry worked and lived.

It also apparently prompted three people to pounce on a criminal opportunity.

Within hours of Curry's death Thursday morning, police say, two local men and a woman broke into his home in the Irish Channel.

They rifled through his belongings, stealing several guns, plus money, jewelry and medication, according to a police report and his wife.
Kevin Carr, left, and Robin West are suspects in burglary of police officer's home.

Curry's wife of 51 years, Genevieve "Jackie" Curry, said she received news of the burglary while at a funeral home arranging her husband's burial.

Her response: "Oh, my goodness. Who would do this?"

Curry, believed to be the country's longest-serving, active-duty police officer still working full time, had never been a crime victim, his wife said. A World War II veteran, Curry participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy; he died two days before that event's 65th anniversary.

In his 62-year New Orleans Police Department career, Curry wrestled bank robbers, responded to shootings, and nabbed pickpockets and all types of sordid characters in the 6th District, a tough triangular swath that encompasses Central City, the Irish Channel and the Lower Garden District.

He was the epitome of a community police officer, spending his whole career, save for a few months, in the same district.

Yet in death, he became a crime victim.

"He would have been shocked to see this, " his wife said Monday. "The place looked like a hurricane came through."

Curry's colleagues from the 6th District hit the streets alongside officers from other specialized units to search for suspects. Eventually, they found a witness who provided names and details of the break-in.

Robin West, 24, allegedly had served as the lookout, pacing the 2800 block of St. Thomas Street, while Eddie "E-Fat" Scott and Kevin "K" Carr, 19, ransacked the home, the report states.

West was picked up by police Friday at 11 p.m. in the 2700 block of Fourth Street, according to court records. Carr was arrested around that time near the intersection of Aline and Annunciation streets. Both were booked with burglary. An NOPD spokesman said Monday that a warrant had been issued for Scott's arrest.

Still reeling from her husband's death, Jackie Curry said the men and women of the NOPD have given her great comfort.

"Let me tell you, the police worked overtime and were great, " she said. "I am so thankful for them."

The burglary took place at the same shotgun house in which Curry had lived nearly his whole life. His family moved there when he was 15, his wife said. He never left.

He stayed at the house during the week as he worked and joined his wife at a country home in Lacombe on the weekends.

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Seriously, this is a case that calls for three lengths of rope and three tall trees. The criminals involved are nothing but dog shit and they will never be anything but dog shit. It's time to just scrape them off of the bottom of the shoe of society and be done with them. Anyone who would victimize any senior citizen on the day of her husband's funeral is unfit to live in this world, especially when the victim's husband devoted the majority of his life to serving this country and his community. Let's hope that, for once, the justice system in New Orleans actually works as intended and these scumbags pull some hard time behind bars.

Rest in Peace, Sarge. God knows you've earned it.


Oh--and in a related New Orleans note, bumbling Mayor Ray Nagin and his wife and a bodyguard have been quarantined while in China. Getting quarantined these days is understandable, what with all of the Swine Flu breaking out. What's not understandable is why that fool is in China instead of carrying out his duties in New Orleans. I'd also like to know how much his "business trip" cost the residents of New Orleans but I'm sure that we all know by know that "Mayor Chocolate City" feels confident enough to just ignore such questions. After all, he was re-elected after he totally bungled Hurricane Katrina, so why would he ever think that a little trip to Asia paid for out of city funds is going to cause him any trouble?