Rickey Diecidue

Glenn Rocher

Two St. Bernard Parish government employees were fired and subsequently arrested, following an investigation into stolen Parish property.

Glenn Rocher, 31 of Chalmette, and Rickey Diecidue, 53, had both been employed with St. Bernard Public Works’ Road Department for over two years, a division of Parish Government.

According to Sheriff-elect James Pohlmann, a recent joint investigation by the Administration and the Sheriff’s Department revealed that Rocher and Diecidue had been taking large amounts of metal from the Road Department, then cut up the metal and sold it as scrap.

“Rocher was booked on January 5, after a tip to the Sheriff’s Office about him cutting up stolen light poles in his back yard led to him being found with the property,” Pohlmann said. “Subsequent investigation led to his accomplice.”

Investigating detectives were able to draw a link to the two men using a Chalmette scrap yard’s logs that the pair had frequently used to trade stolen materials.

“One of the men had scrapped $10,000 worth of aluminum to a scrap yard over a period of time,” Pohlmann said.

Rocher was booked with felony theft and possession of stolen property, while Diecidue’s charge was limited to felony theft.

New Parish President David Peralta had previously cited, indirectly, that an internal investigation had been taking place, as that was one of the functions of his new security officer, Sgt. Jarrod Gourgues, who had been assigned to Peralta earlier this year.

“An investigation is continuing into other unsolved thefts,” Peralta said. “We’ve had a problem with thefts, including light poles taken from work sites. A number of bleachers for recreation activities are also missing.”

In his statement, Peralta said that thefts of this nature are a common problem with government agencies in Southern Louisiana, but also said such thefts will not be tolerated at any level and prosecutions will be pushed for.

Rocher has been released on bond of $16,500 while Diecidue was released on $5,000 bond.