A mother is furious after her 5-yr-old daughter watched as their car was stolen with them standing in the front yard. Now, her daughter is terrified to do anything thinking she could be a victim of crime again. It’s why Kathryn Trew said now, she’s no longer staying quiet about the crime in New Orleans.
“I’m angry at our city. Before I used to say this is terrifying but now I’m pissed. I want our mayor and our district attorney to do something about this. I’m mad. I feel it’s important as a mom to put this out. My child witnessed a crime. I’ve never even witnessed a crime like this,” said Trew.
It was Feb. 15th around 3:15pm when Trew said her mother-in-law was coming back home from picking up her 5-yr-old daughter. As they pulled up home on Vendome Place in New Orleans, her mother-in-law noticed that the side gate was open. She parked her white Lexus SUV in front of the home, turned off the SUV and went to close the gate so the dog wouldn’t get out. Thankfully, the 5-yr-old also got out of the SUV at the same time.
As seen on video, as her mother-in-law, who is nearly 70-yrs-old, was turning back to walk towards the SUV to start unloading things when she watched the SUV stolen right in front of her eyes.
A red, Grand Cherokee Jeep first passed up the SUV and then reversed alongside the Lexus. Someone got out of the backseat and crawled into the driver seat and drove off.
Trew said her mother-in-law figured she was simply going to close the gate so she had left her purse with the key fob in the SUV, enabling them to steal it.
“We shouldn’t be scared to leave our key fob in the car when we’re in our own front yard with vehicles driving by,” said Trew.
More than the vehicle though, it’s the sentimental value of a stuffed bunny her daughter had in her school bag that was still in the SUV.
“She calls it Katty bunny. My father-in-law gave that to us for her when I was pregnant with her and he passed away last year in October. She was the star student at school this week so she was allowed to take her favorite thing to show in her class and she took Katty bunny,” said Trew.
Trew said enough is enough. It’s why she took it upon herself to email New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell with part that email reading:
“Something has got to change! Our leaders can do better. New Orleans needs to be tougher on crime. We need you to request help from the state police and Governor Edwards. Why not ask for help so that we can protect our innocent children and elderly from these crimes?
We need to hire more police and reinstate overtime. We need to offer incentives to young women and men to become police officers in our city.”
She also reached out to Mayor Cantrell and District Attorney Jason Williams via Instagram telling them what happened. So far, she said she has not heard back.
“I’m furious. My daughter is terrified to go anywhere now. I had to stay home on Wednesday and pick her up from school because she’s afraid the car will get stolen or something else will happen,” said Trew.
Anyone with any information on the theft can call the New Orleans Police Dept. at 504-821-2222 or Crime Stoppers anonymously and be eligible for a cash reward.
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