Mardi

by Shay Sokol

Just after 1:00 PM, Keith Dusko, co-owner of the restaurant Chiba, was prepping for the day when a casual glance at his surveillance cameras revealed a theft in progress. The booty was none other than Dusko’s own bicycle. The chase that followed was worthy of Vittorio DeSica, but the statement on crime was, sadly, all NOLA.

Dusko sprinted outside to the Oak Street eatery’s parking lot to stop the crime. He was seconds too late, and three youths scattered in different directions. Two kids escaped on foot, and one rode off on Dusko’s bike.  

Undeterred, Dusko chased the bicycle thief down Oak Street, heading towards Dante.  Chiba’s crew, including his sushi chef, kitchen chef and a busboy ran after the other kids in vain. However, Jacques Leonardi, owner of Jacques-Imo’s, noticed the commotion, and joined Dusko in the chase. The dynamic duo of dining were losing ground on the speedy cyclist, when a car stopped to offer help.

An unidentified stranger offered a speedier chariot for the pursuit. Leonardi and Dusko piled in and they drove off. In the car, the unnamed female told Leonardi to keep lookout on the left, Dusko on the right. They did as she said. On Willow and Leonidas Streets, they descended upon their cycling thief. The driver tailgated the thief in an attempt at intimidation.

“[We were so close] we could have run him over,” Dusko later told NoDef.

The kid ditched the bike and fled on foot. Dusko retrieved his bike instead of continuing the pursuit. The other two subjects are also at large. Yet, Dusko said that they are no strangers.

The three kids often hang around Oak Street since school’s been out, according to Dusko.

Last Tuesday, just a block away, a young gunman robbed a woman of her SUV. After giving her keys to the young perp, the victim ran. He shot at her. The bullet missed. The NOPD released a surveillance photo of the suspect, who is barely taller than the doorhandle he is pictured near.

Dusko described the kid who stole his bike as 10 to 11 years of age. The other two kids looked a year or two older, he said.

Dusko called the police, but as of this writing, the NOPD has not showed up. Dusko has a “beautiful” picture of the kids from his restaurant’s surveillance camera waiting for the NOPD.

Dusko jokingly told NoDef he is starting the Oak Street Angels, a neighborhood watch group in the image of the Guardian Angels. “We’re taking back Oak Street, baby!” Dusko said.

Dusko changed his tone when he lamented, “It’s children! The gun violence in this city is coming from kids! It’s just sad… Maybe I will get killed [going after them], but it’s my neighborhood.”

Though Jacques Leonardi rather enjoyed today’s events--“It was a lot of fun,” was the first thing he said when he picked up the phone--he agrees with Dusko about this city in the summer.

“It’s just a shame. These kids are off from school,” Leonardi said. “My dad would’ve beat me up if I brought a bike home that wasn’t mine.”