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Katrina survivor falls on hard times
Published December 28, 2007
LOGANVILLE A Katrina survivor who made her home in Loganville with the help of the Corinth Christian Church, Faith In Serving Humanity and the Red Cross is now facing felony drug and auto theft charges.
Sgt. Mike Westbrooks, of the Loganville Police Department, said Valerie Bridges, 43, of Loganville, formerly of New Orleans, was arrested last weekend and charged with one count of theft by taking motor vehicle, following an incident where she took a vehicle belonging to the mother of an old neighbor from Alexander Crossing without permission.
When contacted by phone, Bridges allegedly promised to return the vehicle but failed to do so. She later allegedly abandoned the vehicle on Davis Road in Monroe where it was recovered and returned to the owner.
At the time of her arrest, Bridges was out on bond following an August arrest for cocaine possession.
She faces from one to 20 years on each of the charges, Westbrooks said.
Bridges was evacuated from her home on the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came ashore. She somehow landed in Loganville and was taken in by Corinth Christian Church.
The church found her a home in Alexander Crossing and paid for her to fly out to Dallas to be reunited with her son, who had been evacuated there with her parents. The church also paid for her to return to Loganville with her son, set them up in an apartment and, with the help of F.I.S.H. and the Red Cross, helped her get clothes, a bike for her son, a car to help her find a job and the support she needed to settle in.
At that time Bridges said she believed her journey from New Orleans to Loganville was a blessing from God. She said she would never go back to New Orleans and intended to start a new life in Loganville.
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