Armed intruder killed

Twelve burglaries in parish since Thanksgiving

A St. Rose man shot and killed an armed intruder who had kicked down the rear door of his residence shortly before 1 a.m. on Dec. 15, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities say Michael Cockerham, 21, of 426 Turtle Creek Lane, was armed with a semiautomatic handgun when he broke into the home of 53-year-old Tyrone Taylor in the 300 block of First Street. Taylor told police that he saw a laser light from what he believed to be a weapon shine through the opening of the damaged doorway. Taylor then fired a single shot at the intruder.

Shortly after the shot, Cockerham was located in the yard of a neighbor with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The homeowner had been robbed a couple of times before, so that’s why he was scared,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes, said.

The matter is still under investigation, but no charges have been filed against Taylor.

Since Thanksgiving, the parish has seen an upswing in home burglaries. In fact, 12 homes have been burglarized during the last three weeks.

But since most of these burglaries have occurred on the West Bank, Sheriff Greg Champagne doesn’t believe that they are connected to the St. Rose crime.

The burglars in the predominantly West Bank crimes are breaking into the homes by forcing open a rear door or window that is out of sight from the street and then ransacking the homes looking for small, valuable items.

“Residential burglaries are not that common in St. Charles Parish,” Champagne said. “Most of these have occurred on the West Bank of the parish, but there have been similar burglaries in Destrehan, New Sarpy and St. Rose.”

Champagne said that neighborhoods hit on the West Bank include Ashton, Ama, Barton/Davis, Coronado, Mimosa, Lakewood and Green Acres/Bayou Gauche.

“The perpetrators are obviously jumping around and selecting homes to target in different areas,” Champagne said. “In some of the burglaries, the perpetrators have attempted to cut phone lines and disable burglar alarms.”

Champagne said that the burglars are casing out possible targets ahead of time to be certain that no one is home, and may even knock or ring doorbells to be certain.

“These burglars are striking during the day or at night and may use different vehicles,” Champagne said. “For several days, detectives have been working around the clock following up on leads and deputies are intensely patrolling neighborhoods in search of anything suspicious.”

Champagne said that everyone needs to be on the lookout for anything suspicious in their area and should call 911 immediately if they see an unknown person approach a neighbor’s home.

“Note the description of the individual at your neighbor’s residence including the make, model and license plate of the vehicle they are in,” he said. “Take a picture if possible and if anyone comes to your door and indicates that they have the wrong address or they don’t seem to have a legitimate reason for being there, call 911 immediately.”