ROANOKE — A Roanoke couple said they want something done about drug activities, thefts, speeding and other crimes occurring in their neighborhood.

“I’ve been all over the world and never seen anything like this,” Perry Comeaux said. “I’m just sick of it. I really don’t want to leave here because of all the good people here, but I am at my wits’ end.”

The couple said they have spoken to local officials but have gotten little support and have seen no improvement in their neighborhood. They have requested extra police patrols, but have not noticed any increase in police presence.

Sheriff Ivy Woods said patrols have been increased as a result of complaints from several residents. Woods said the drug problem is not just a Jeff Davis Parish issue, but “it’s statewide.”

“They are reducing the jail time and giving everybody good-time release and they are getting out of jail early, and it’s aggravating,” Woods said.

The Comeauxes said some of their neighbors have been arrested on drug and theft charges in the past, but have served little time.

“No sooner they take them to jail they are back,” Perry Comeaux said.

The couple said the recent slaying of Trooper Steven Vincent by a man with a lengthy criminal history concerns them.

“I saw all this about the guy killing the state trooper, and that really set me off,” Perry Comeaux said. “I have to so something, and if this (contacting media) is what it takes, I’m going to do it. I want my story told. I want justice.”

The Comeauxes described some of their neighbors as “violent and dangerous people” and said there is constant traffic in and out of at least one suspected drug house.

They said they have been threatened and can’t go outside without being harassed. One neighbor has turned a pit bull loose on their daughter and son-in-law, and another threatened to burn their house down, they said.

“The other neighbors sit back and do nothing because they are scared of them,” Perry Comeaux said. “But I’m not afraid of retaliation. I can defend myself.”

The couple said the situation has gotten so bad, they are considering moving out of the home they have lived in for 22 years. “It’s been a really long time coming, but we can’t stay here anymore,” Perry Comeaux said. “I can’t even walk out on my street without getting accosted.”

District Attorney Michael Cassidy said the residents should report the incidents to the Sheriff’s Office. “It is up to the Sheriff’s Office to develop enough evidence to charge someone with a crime that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cassidy said.

He confirmed that the District Attorney’s Office does have some cases pending against the Comeauxes’ neighbors, but could not discuss them.

“We’re just not getting any help,” Delores Comeaux said. “Why aren’t these people in jail. We can’t even find out when their court dates are.”

A native of Roanoke, Delores Comeaux said she has seen her hometown change in recent years.

“When I was growing up we went to junior high and had seventh- and eighth-grade basketball games,” she said. “Me and my sister could walk home safely after a game, and nowadays I wouldn’t even let my grandkids out in the yard.

“We used to not have any drug dealers. Now I’m told we have three or four drug dealers here. I’m told they are leaving Jennings and Welsh to come to our little town. It used to be a great neighborhood.”Police Line graphic Crime Cops