CHALMETTE, La. (WGNO) – Thursday’s manhunt at Paris Road at the Orleans Parish line was part of a large heroin and weapons investigation.
Five guns, two of them stolen, and quantities of heroin, cocaine and pills were seized, along with a bullet-proof vest and several hundred dollars in cash.
St. Bernard Sheriff James Pohlmann said, five suspects are also in custody.
As part of the investigation, agents of the Special Investigations Division attempted to pull over a car Thursday on Paris Road. Both people inside the car, Dereck Meyers, 23, and Eddie Martin, 25, both from New Orleans, jumped out.
Sheriff Pohlmann said Martin was caught quickly, but Meyers sparked the manhunt which closed Paris Road for hours near Bayou Bienvenue at the Orleans Parish line. State Police, the Wildlife and Fisheries Department, St. Tammany Parish’s Sheriff’s Office, Plaquemines Parish which supplied a helicopter, and New Orleans Police which supplied a canine all assisted in the manhunt.
“We appreciate the patience of the public inconvenienced by the closure, but it was necessary as a safety precaution because the man who ran was carrying a gun he threw away and we didn’t know if he had another weapon he might use,” Sheriff Pohlmann said.
Both Meyers and Martin were booked with possession of the stolen gun in the car, with possession of seven grams of marijuana, flight from officers and possession of a firearm while possessing a controlled dangerous substance.
Martin is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond and Meyers in lieu of bond set at $75,000.
On Wednesday, two people were arrested at a house on Marina Road in Chalmette. Drugs and guns were found inside the home. Authorities arrested Dayna Parker, 35, who rents the house, and Jacoby Martin, 20, who said he lived there.
Sheriff Pohlmann said they obtained arrest warrants for the “the main person in the heroin investigation,” Corey Kennedy, 35. Kennedy is being held in Orleans Parish Prison on a domestic battery arrest.
Parker and Jacoby Martin were both booked with possession to distribute heroin, cocaine and pills as well as illegal possession of the body armor.
Parker and Jacoby Martin are being held on a $200,000 bond.