Tag: Causeway Police Department

Tonny Bauer convicted of carjacking woman at Metairie pizzeria

A Jefferson Parish jury Wednesday night (March 8) found Tonny J. Bauer guilty of carjacking for forcibly removing a 58-year-old woman from her vehicle moments after she purchased pizzas.

It was about 8 p.m., on May 8, 2020, when Bauer, 37, entered the victim’s 2021 Nissan Rogue through the passenger-side door outside a pizza business in the 5000 block of West Esplanade Avenue.

The victim walked out of the business with her pizzas and noticed Bauer crouching down nearby, she told the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. She entered her Rogue and placed the pizzas on the passenger’s seat. That’s when Bauer entered the vehicle.

He choked the victim as she tried to flee. After she escaped, Bauer drove away. About a half-hour later, Causeway police responded to a one-vehicle wreck in the southbound lanes of the Causeway bridge. Police determined it was the stolen vehicle, and after he appeared to attempt to climb the bridge’s railing, Bauer was arrested.

Police also found the victim’s pizza in the car. It was still hot and partially eaten.

Bauer alleged self-defense, saying he was at his home near the pizza business when he thought someone was breaking into the house. Leaving his shoes and eyeglasses behind, Bauer asserted that he ran to the pizza business and got into the victim’s car in thinking she could help him.

Jurors deliberated less than 1 ½ hours before returning with their unanimous verdict. Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Bauer on March 22.

Assistant District Attorneys Carolyn Chkautovich and Alyssa Aleman prosecuted the case.

Olivia Matte sentenced to 20 years for DWI fatality on Causeway bridge

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Nov. 15) sentenced Olivia Matte to 20 years in prison for causing the death of a Mississippi man while she was driving drunk on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway last year.

Matte, 28, of Covington, who had remained free on bond since pleading guilty on Sept. 4, surrendered Thursday to begin serving her sentence.

James Blackmond, 37, of Foxworth, Miss., was driving his pick-up south on the Causeway early on the morning of March 23, 2017, when Matte drove into the rear of his truck about three miles north of the south shore. Blackmond was killed and his passenger was injured.

Matte had a blood-alcohol content of .216, close to three times the legal limit to drive in Louisiana. On Sept. 4, she pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide, vehicular negligent injuring, operating a vehicle with a suspended driver’s license and failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle.

At her attorney’s request, Judge Glenn Ansardi of the 24th Judicial District Court ordered a presentence investigation on Sept. 4 and allowed Matte to remain free on bond until her sentencing.

After hearing impact testimony from witnesses on both sides of the matter, Judge Ansardi sentenced Matte to six months for the negligent injuring, six months for driving with a suspended license, 90 days for careless operation and 20 years for the vehicular homicide. He ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Richard Olivier prosecuted the case.

Olivia Matte pleads guilty as charged to fatal DWI crash, awaits sentencing

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Sept. 4) ordered a presentencing investigation after Olivia Matte pleaded guilty to causing the death of a Mississippi man as a result of driving while intoxicated on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway last year.

On what was scheduled to be her trial date, Matte, 28, of Covington, pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide, a felony, in the March 23, 2017 death of James Blackmond, 37, of Foxworth, Miss.

Matte also pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular negligent injuring, involving Blackmond’s 44-year-old passenger; failing to maintain control of a motor vehicle; and operating a vehicle while her driver’s license was suspended. Those charges are misdemeanors.

Matte’s blood-alcohol content was .216, close to three times higher than the legal limit to drive in Louisiana.

In accepting her guilty plea, Judge Glenn Ansardi of the 24th Judicial District Court granted Matte’s attorney’s request for a presentence investigation. Judge Ansardi allowed Matte to remain free on bond, denying the prosecutors’ request that she be remanded to jail while awaiting her sentencing.

Judge Ansardi will announce Matte’s sentence on Nov. 15.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Richard Olivier prosecuted the case.