LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / November 21, 1999

HAHNVILLE – A 16-year-old boy is charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and possession of a stolen weapon. He wascaptured outside his father’s house in Killona after a 24-minute standoff with police, during which shots were exchanged.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Col. Bob Garner revealed theidentity of the juvenile as Giovanni Brown, 16, of 4165 Lac Couture Drive, Apt. 4, New Orleans.Brown was subdued after his father talked briefly with him and slapped the .357 Magnum from the boy’s hand. No one was injured.Sheriff Greg C. Champagne reported that bulletins had gone out on areatelevision that Brown was being sought by Jefferson Parish after an Oct.

27 incident in Harvey.

“We started getting sightings right away,” Champagne said. On Nov. 16 at5:20 a.m., the sheriff’s office got a call that Brown was standing outsidehis father’s residence on Adams Street in Killona, holding a gun.

St. Charles deputies approached the youth from opposite directions. Onewas on foot on the south end, talking to a neighbor who pointed him out. Avehicle approached from River Road.

Brown first spotted the car and fired several shots, Champagne said. Thedeputy immediately ducked behind the dashboard and began backing up, while the other deputy on foot returned fire. Brown ducked back behind hismother’s car.

Family members tried for several minutes to urge the boy to surrender peaceably, but it wasn’t until his father walked up to him, talked to him briefly, then slapped the gun away that Brown was subdued.

“Luckily, nobody was hurt,” Champagne said.

In Jefferson Parish, Brown faces charges of armed robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, false imprisonment and two counts of auto theft after he and another New Orleans teen-ager allegedly took four members of a family hostage in the Esprit subdivision.

The other suspect, Eddie “Mike” Christoff, 17, was arrested Nov. 12 on thesame Jefferson Parish charges Brown faces.

Chief Criminal Deputy Joseph Cardella praised the professionalism of the responding deputies. “They performed as per their training,” Cardella said.”They did a terrific job.”

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