Joseph O’Berry has been arrested three times in the past four months, beginning with an aggravated arson charge at Louisiana Technical College Sullivan Campus in February.
Louisiana Fire Marshal officials arrested O’Berry after a school security guard saw a man exit a restroom near a classroom where an adult GED program was in session. The guard subsequently discovered two separate fires in the restroom, and was able to extinguish them with a fire extinguisher. The investigation revealed that O’Berry, a student in the adult education class, was the only person to have left the class, and that he had materials in his possession that linked him to the fire.
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Then, last week, O’Berry – a volunteer camp counselor for Camp Te Ca Towazi, the local chapter of Camp Fire USA – walked away from a school bus where camp children were apparently aggravating him, picked up a handgun from his car and opened fire in the direction of some nearby trees, police said.
He was arrested after police arrived at the scene, which was in a parking lot at Bogalusa High School.
In the arson incident, O’Berry’s bond was set at $100,000. That bond was met — $58,500 through property and $41,500 through a bail bondsman — and O’Berry was released the same day as his arrest, WPSO jail officials confirmed.
In his March arrest, O’Berry’s bond was set at $5,000 per burglary, which was also paid in quick order, and he was released the next day, jail officials said.
O’Berry is still in jail for his latest charge — dangerous use of a weapon — with a bond of $100,000.
DA officials said they are going make a motion to increase the amounts of the previous bonds.
A competency hearing for O’Berry is also likely, said Rick Wood, spokesperson for District Attorney Walter Reed.
Camp Fire officials said this week that O’Berry was a volunteer and the organization does not do background checks on volunteers.
“He was always under the supervision of an adult,” said Traci Collins, Towazi’s board president. Volunteers are required to work in pairs, and never be alone with a child, she added.
O’Berry became a counselor this year after a relative helped sign him up with a good reference, Collins said. But after a few days, camp officials saw he was using bad language around the children, and were about to tell him to not return to camp when the shooting incident occurred, she said.
The summer camp provider is looking at possible ways to do background checks in the future, Collins said.
Comments
The old way wrote on Jun 17, 2009 6:27 PM:
for misled wrote on Jun 11, 2009 4:38 PM:
factfinder wrote on Jun 11, 2009 10:26 AM:
Old School wrote on Jun 11, 2009 1:03 AM:
Try looking at the news paper!
DA 3 times and now your going to look at raising bail? "
What the Heck wrote on Jun 10, 2009 8:44 PM:
misled wrote on Jun 10, 2009 7:12 PM:
HartBeats45 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 1:48 PM: