By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A Reserve man was booked with aggravated burglary Friday following a home invasion where, according to authorities, he repeatedly hit another man with a claw hammer.

With the help of a tip to investigators, deputies located and arrested Cleveland T. Carter Jr., 36, at an apartment on Joe Parquet Circle in LaPlace around 10:30 a.m. Friday, said Maj. Robert Hay, chief of detectives for the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Carter was arrested just seven hours after the alleged home invasion took place. According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, investigators said Carter entered the victim’s apartment in the 100 block of East 13th Street around 3:16 a.m. Hay said Carter entered through a door that was left open.

The release said upon entering the home Carter armed himself with a hammer he found on the apartment’s kitchen counter and encountered the victim, a 29-year-old Reserve man, in a bathroom.

Hay said Carter allegedly struck the victim in the head several times with the hammer. He said the victim was taken to River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace, where he was treated for his injuries and released.

The report said after the assault, Carter took $200 from the victim’s wallet and fled the apartment. The victim contacted the Sheriff’s Office immediately following the incident.

Hay said Carter and the victim were acquaintances but were not friends. He said the victim was able to identify Carter as the attacker in a photographic lineup. Hay said when authorities tracked Carter down at the apartment Friday, he was very violent and resisted deputies’ attempts to arrest him.

Sheriff Wayne L. Jones said Carter is a career criminal with an extensive record and had just finished a 12-year prison sentence in July. He said he plans to work closely with the District Attorney’s Office to make sure he returns to jail quickly.

Carter was booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on aggravated burglary, aggravated second-degree battery and resisting arrest charges. He is being held on a $60,234 bond.