Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — It was a close call for a baby and her 12-year-old brother on Wednesday after New Orleans Police say they were forced out of their parked car shortly before two suspects attempted to steal it. On Friday, police announced the arrest of three juvenile suspects believed to have been involved.
The NOPD reports a juvenile suspect has been arrested for the armed carjacking in which the two children were forced out of their car at gunpoint. According to detectives, the attempted carjacking happened in the 3000 block of Holiday Drive in Algiers around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Police say a 36-year-old woman and her two children were parked at a local store when the woman went inside. That’s when two juvenile suspects approached the car.
One suspect pointed a gun at the woman’s 12-year-old son and demanded he exit the vehicle. The boy complied, taking his 11-month-old sister with him and running back into the store.
The suspects then started to drive off, but stopped the car and started to run away. It’s unclear why, however, police say the suspects returned to their own vehicle and drove off.
As police continued to investigate the incident, they learned three suspects had been taken into custody in connection to a stolen vehicle crashed at Canal and North Villere streets near downtown New Orleans. The vehicle, reported stolen earlier in the day of the carjacking, matched the description of the one the juvenile suspects used in the carjacking, police say.
Three teenage male suspects were arrested after the crash, ages 13, 15, and 16. Police believe the 16-year-old was driving the suspect vehicle during the carjacking while the other two carried out the armed carjacking.
Detectives say the elder two suspects are connected to previous armed carjacking incidents. All three teens were booked on the following charges:
- 16-year-old male
- Use of a
- firearm in the commission of a robbery (Holiday Drive carjacking)
- Armed robbery (Holiday Drive carjacking)
- Illegal possession of a stolen vehicle (Separate incident)
- Theft of a motor vehicle (Separate incident)
- 15-year-old male
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a robbery (Holiday Drive carjacking)
- Armed robbery (Holiday Drive carjacking)
- Carjacking (Separate incident)
- Illegal possession of stolen things (Separate incident)
- Possession of a firearm by a juvenile (Separate incident)
- Illegal use of weapons (Separate incident)
- Illegal carrying of a weapon (Separate incident)
- Carjacking in the South Broad Street incident (Separate incident)
- 13-year-old male
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a robbery (Holiday Drive carjacking)
- Armed robbery in the Holiday Drive incident (Separate incident)
- Illegal possession of a stolen vehicle (Separate incident)
No one was injured in the Holiday Drive armed carjacking, police say. The case remains under investigation by the NOPD.
Anyone with additional information on this incident is asked to contact NOPD Fourth District detectives at 504-658-6040 or call anonymously to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free 1-877-903-STOP.
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