TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama have arrested two people who are accused of breaking into a New Orleans-area estate belonging to Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, stealing from it and setting a fire.
Tuscaloosa police arrested Robert Kelly and Angela Goodfellow, both 43, on burglary and simple arson charges after getting word that a Jeep allegedly used in the theft was in the area, news outlets reported.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told reporters robbers smashed antique china and stole rare coins, sports and political memorabilia and liquor from his house and a dump truck from across the street. The truck, still holding some of his belongings, was found in Mississippi.
Kelly and Goodfellow are from Slidell, Louisiana, news outlets reported . It was not immediately clear whether they have an attorney who could speak on their behalf.
A pest control worker discovered the break-in April 14 at the estate about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
A small kitchen fire did mostly smoke damage, Nungesser told WDSU-TV.
Thousands of dollars worth of stolen sports memorabilia included framed jerseys signed by Drew Brees and Pete Rose, Nungesser told reporters.
He told the newspaper some stolen political memorabilia came from his career, and some had been collected by his father, William “Billy” Nungesser, who headed the state’s Republican Party for many years and is in the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame.
“My dad had a chest full of things,” he said. “Looks like they got about half of it.”
Nungesser said the burglars also took “lots of liquor.”
“They left the parish with a stolen dump truck, followed by a Jeep and some of the stuff from the home was in the dump truck when it was recovered,” Nungesser told WWL-TV. “They ditched the dump truck when they were on the run.”
The truck was found in Pearl River County in Mississippi.
Nungesser and his wife now live in Covington, Louisiana and are trying to sell the 65-acre (26-hectare) property along the Mississippi River south of Jesuit Bend. Hurricane Ida did heavy damage to the 9,000-square-foot (836-square-meter) house, which Nungesser said is 25 to 30 years old.
Assessors records show the couple bought the property for $369,900 in 1997, the newspaper reported.
The Nungessers were removing remaining items to their new house when the burglary occurred.
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