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LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. (BRPROUD) –  Two women are behind bars for allegedly barging into an abandoned hurricane-damaged hotel in an attempt to steal whatever they could get away with, authorities say. 

According to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, the crime occured Friday (June 3) morning at a Galliano hotel that had been closed since it was severely damaged during 2021’s Hurricane Ida. 

Deputies say the hotel’s owner alerted them to the alleged theft, but when authorities arrived, the women were not on the premises. 

But it didn’t take long for deputies to track them down.

Officials say when they found and questioned 58-year-old Dana Chouset and 46-year-old Dena Leboeuf, both admitted to breaking into the hotel in hopes of finding items to take. 

Dena Leboeuf
Dana Chouest

Chouest and Leboeuf were booked into Thibodaux’s Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex, each charged with one count of looting.

Chouest’s bail is set at $5,000 while Leboeuf’s is $10,000.