Priest to start all over

By JESSIE FORAND | St. Albans Messenger
jessie@samessenger.com

The Rev. Daniel Lokanga waited outside the doors of Red Barn Storage at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, eager to enter the premises and find his belongings.

He stood with his attorneys and members of the Knights of Columbus Friends of Father Daniel Committee, who encouraged him to right what they saw as a wrong done against the Catholic priest.

Lokanga, who presides at Ascension Parish in Georgia and another Catholic church in St. Albans, spent two years filling a shipping container with donations for his native Democratic Republic of Congo. The $30,000 in goods inside were emptied late last year.

Now Lokanga is in a legal battle with Albert Belval and Paul and Jane Barrenger of Red Barn Storage and Warehouse on Heritage Road in Georgia. That Wednesday morning, he hoped to get some of his stuff back.

Sgt. James Lynch, a deputy from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, was there to make sure things went without incident.

Lokanga and his supporters didn’t know what they’d find Wednesday, or if they’d find anything at all, but they had reason to believe that the items, meant as humanitarian aid, were sold off.

As arranged in an agreement hammered out by lawyers, Red Barn owner Paul Barrenger opened the doors, and the group shuffled out of the snow and into the barn. Lokanga recognized some items as his; others were difficult to determine.

The priest had not seen them in a long time.

Lokanga purchased an 8-by-40-foot container from Belval, former Red Barn owner, in 2008.

Court documents accuse Belval and the Barrengers of preventing Lokanga from accessing the container and his property, of preventing him from removing it from the Red Barn and of threatening Lokanga with violence.

Luke Richter, one of the lawyers representing the priest, said the group found a lot of clothes that were donated by a school. However, larger items, such as computer monitors, had price tags, denoting they were for sale. Other items were damaged, the lawyer said.

The shipping container was originally found empty, but on the day of the visit, it was one-quarter full with items that weren’t Lokanga’s. The priest found many of his belongings, including medical supplies, in a van in another part of the Red Barn.

A supporter said the container was jam-packed when those collecting the humanitarian aid last saw it.

“I personally think that just because there was some property there does not mean we’ve recovered it all,” Richter said of items, which Barrenger allowed to be removed from the Red Barn.

Lokanga’s Dodge Durango, which also was to be shipped to the Congo, was found in a garage at the Red Barn. Barrenger told the group he had moved it. The vehicle had a disconnected battery and a soft and flat tire. It was taken to St. Albans on a flatbed truck.

Richter didn’t know when the property was removed from the container.

“If you’re in the business of storing things … you can’t just open something up and empty it if it’s not your property,” he said, “That’s 101; that’s just the basic rules of the game.”

The defendants have denied all counts in the civil suit in Franklin County Superior Court.

In an answer filed in court December 21, the defendants said Barrenger attempted to contact Lokanga to have him remove the storage container, that Lokanga did not respond and failed to remove his personal property or pay rental fees per a verbal agreement of $100 per month agreed to by Belval and Lokanga.

The defendants ask not only for payment of rent from July 1 but for attorney’s fees, litigation costs, punitive damages and relief deemed proper by the court.

Since Barrenger’s attorney – Elizabeth Casey of Bergeron, Paradis, and Fitzpatrick of Essex Jct. – was not present on the visit Wednesday, Richter said it would have been unethical to question Barrenger. Richter was surprised Barrenger did not have legal representation on Wednesday.

Barrenger declined comment after Lokanga’s visit to the barn Wednesday morning. Calls to his lawyer were not returned.

For the priest, it’s already been a three-year process to prepare items for shipment to the Congo. What lies ahead now was described as an enormous amount of work.

Richter said the priest and his supporters need to take inventory of the items found at the barn and determine which match a list made when the container was first packed. Then comes tedious repacking and, essentially, starting all over.

Fortunately, Richter said, Lokanga was diligent about cataloging donations. This was his second container for the Congo (the first is currently tied up with customs there.)

There will likely be more court hearings to attempt to determine what belongs to whom.

While the lawyer has no role in criminal charges, Richter said his party has discussed the case with Vermont State Police and the Franklin County state’s attorney, Jim Hughes. Richter believes the case is criminal, involving theft and fraud.

“I think these people saw a man who they considered to be vulnerable. They looked at a full storage container that had a vehicle in it, [and] they said, ‘We can probably make some money,’” Richter said.

Richter credited Lokanga for handling the situation well.

“With continued support, we’re going to get through this,” he said.

Previously: Lost donations case moving forward