By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish authorities arrested a 17-year-old and a pair of juveniles after the group alegedly assaulted and robbed two other boys as they walked near the levee in New Sarpy Sunday afternoon, said a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Jovante Wells, of 740 East Hoover St., New Sarpy, was booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center on one count of armed robbery in connection with the incident. He is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond, which was set Monday morning.

Yoes said the two juvenile accomplices, both 15 and both from New Sarpy, were held in custody overnight before being released into the custody of parents. The boys’ names were not released.

According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, the two victims, described as brothers, were walking behind the levee gathering firewood Sunday morning when they were approached and robbed by Wells and the two juveniles.

The suspects grabbed a gym bag from one of the victims before hitting the other victim with a large piece of driftwood picked up at the scene. The uninjured victim told authorities as he attempted to help his brother, he was “jumped” by all three offenders.

Following the assault, the victim said one of the suspects demanded that the two empty their pockets, according to the report. The two boys handed over a cell phone and a knife and the suspects fled the area on foot.

Yoes said during interviews with the victims, both boys were able to positively identify the three attackers. The three suspects were apprehended just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday, and each confessed their involvement in the incident.

Yoes said the injured boy was taken to an area hospital by his parents for treatment. No information was available on his condition, but investigators believe he suffered a broken arm when he was hit.