Kenner police arrested a 22-year-old woman on Wednesday after responding to a report of someone pulling on vehicle door handles in the 4300 block of California Avenue. Officers say Shalea Paige was located nearby, and she was ultimately booked only on a public intoxication charge.
According to the Kenner Police Department, officers responded on Wednesday to a call describing a suspicious individual trying vehicle door handles in the California Avenue block. Police located Paige, a Kenner resident, near Florida Avenue and Joe Yenni Boulevard. She was taken into custody for public intoxication, the department said.
Police are now asking residents of Beachview Heights and the surrounding area to check their own vehicles and any home surveillance systems for signs of tampering. The department said it is particularly interested in footage that might show suspicious activity around parked cars during the early morning hours of Wednesday.
What Police Want Residents to Check
Even if nothing appears to be missing, the department is asking anyone whose vehicle was entered, rummaged through, or otherwise tampered with overnight to come forward. Investigators said that information could help detectives determine whether the incident is connected to other break-ins or additional victims in the area.
Anyone with information can call police at (504) 712-2222.
A Pattern of Break-Ins in Kenner
Vehicle burglaries have cropped up repeatedly in Kenner neighborhoods over the years. Beachview Heights itself was the scene of a separate string of break-ins reported to police, according to WDSU, which detailed how an off-duty officer later recognized a 17-year-old suspect from surveillance video and found him in possession of two stolen guns, leading to charges tied to 13 car burglaries. The outlet also reported a separate arrest after someone was caught pulling door handles on Ole Miss Drive, resulting in vehicle burglary and weapons charges.
Kenner has dealt with waves of similar activity before. In 2021, FOX 8 reported that police arrested three suspects accused of multiple vehicle burglaries spanning three months, including a night in which two vehicles were stolen from the Grandlake Subdivision and four more from Place Ponchartrain and South Lake Villages. That same report noted several vehicles burglarized in Chateau Estates Lakefront, with two handguns stolen from separate cars.
The supplied evidence does not establish whether Wednesday's incident is connected to any of those earlier cases or to a separately reported count of 14 vehicle burglaries attributed to a low-confidence account from Rebel Express. For now, police are treating the California Avenue report as a standalone case while they gather tips from the neighborhood.
