One of two women accused of ‘terrorizing’ New Orleans bar arrested

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Witnesses say they waited 30 minutes for NOPD to show up while two women assaulted staff and patrons of a Lower Garden District Bar Saturday night.

The women were identified by police on Wednesday as Johnquil Kelley and Alexis Linor. Warrants were issued for their arrests on charges of disturbing the peace, trespassing, and multiple counts of simple battery.

Kelley was taken into custody on Thurs., April 28, according to court records.

Their rampage was caught on video both inside and outside the bar.

“Those women continued to terrorize this bar for 30 minutes. It wasn’t just my husband. It was four other patrons that were here. People that weren’t even involved,” Crista Rock said. “Needless to say, the situation was complete chaos.”

Rock’s husband was working behind the bar at Half Moon when she says two women, who did not have their IDs on them, were refused service and began trashing the bar.

“They just started knocking stuff down and knocking bar tables down, came behind the bar, started knocking liquor off the shelves,” Rock said. “My husband tried to stop them and kind of corralled them and she bit his chest. One of them bit his chest and then the other one, overtop of the other girl, punched my husband in the face five times, gave him a black eye and a bloody nose, split his lip.”

Rock says her husband did not want to hurt anyone and she of course called 911.

“I sat on hold for three minutes, which is not unusual in this city,” Rock said. “Like, I almost expected it, which is sad, right? Like, really sad. I’m like, I know, I’m gonna be on hold when I call 911.”

In the half-hour before police showed up, Rock says a patron was punched in the face and another caught a chair to the face leaving a gaping wound on her forehead. Also, the attackers mentioned having a gun outside.

“I used to know the police officers in my district,” Rock said. “I used to know them. I was friends with them. I could call them personally on their cell phones and be like, this is going down. I knew them. I no longer know anyone in the Sixth District anymore. That is not okay. That is a policy that needs to change.”

CRIMETRACKER

Kenner man admits to bludgeoning mother to death, police say

Grandmother, mother accused in 4-year-old’s fatal alcohol poisoning, police say

Tipster claims officer robbed him, leading to raid that turned up 100 guns and crack cocaine

Rock wants to see increased recruitment efforts and ads for officers everywhere. She feels not enough is being done.

“The second thing that needs to change, we need the National Guard. We used it after Katrina. We need it again,” Rock said.

When asked about response times in other parts of the city during major downtown events, NOPD issued this statement:

“The NOPD’s primary mission is to provide prompt and professional police services to all citizens.

As New Orleans is known for its rich culture and hosts multiple major events annually; these events and resources are analyzed and operational plans are developed to strategically deploy resources with the utmost regard for ensuring public safety.

During these analyses, the utmost consideration and priority are given to ensure the NOPD can respond to calls for service or emergency situations in a time-efficient and effective manner.”

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.