New Orleans, La. - Navarre Avenue near Delgado Community College is a street where finding a parking spot is usually the biggest problem. But now homeowners and the faculty, staff and students at Delgado are on alert.
New Orleans police say a Delgado student who parked his SUV on Navarre became the victim of a carjacking. It happened just after 8:30 Wednesday night.
"He was going to class," says NOPD Lt. Chris Kalka. "When he went to the back of the vehicle to get his book bag, he encountered a man who was crouched down. The man had a handgun, threw him to the ground and took his vehicle."
Kalka says police are still looking for the victim's missing SUV, a 2004 gold Toyota Highlander with the Louisiana tag VSC 064.
The chief of campus police tells FOX 8 his department is working with the NOPD. The school sent out an email to students and also listed the crime on Delgado's website.
Student Alexis Clark says she never worried about her safety around campus before this. "That's kind of crazy but now I just know I have to watch my surroundings and be aware that there is danger in all places," she says. "You can't just say that's it's here, it's all over the city."
Police say they've had no other reports of similar crimes in the neighborhood in at least six months, but they're increasing patrols and telling students to pay attention, especially at night.
"We try to tell people to stay in well-lit areas, well-populated areas," says Kalka. "We also try to tell them to not linger near their vehicles. If you know you're going to school, keep your book bag on the seat next to you so that you don't have to stay near your vehicle for an inordinate amount of time. But never, never, never resist any armed robberies. Your vehicle can be replaced but, of course, your health cannot."
Delgado student Cirilo Villa thinks there are simple ways to stay safe. "If somebody's walking by, you look around and see what's going on," says Villa. "You lock your car and do things they tell you, like if you leave something in your car you try to cover it. You don't want to encourage someone to break your car."
That's advice anyone in any neighborhood can use.
