By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A Metairie couple that came to LaPlace to purchase a cell phone through an online classified advertising service were instead robbed by two men wielding a wooden baseball bat.

Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the victims, a 20-year-old male and a 20-year-old female, came to the area Wednesday evening with the intent to purchase an Apple iPhone 4 that was listed for sale on the website craigslist.org.

Clement said the male victim had been in contact with the purported seller through a cell phone number listed on the online ad. Clement said the victims were directed to multiple locations throughout the LaPlace area before one of the suspects settled on a final location in the 2600 block of Virginian Colony in LaPlace. Clement said investigators believe the address was a random location that had no connection to either suspect.

According to the Sheriff’s Office report, both sides met up at the address just before 11 p.m. Wednesday. While the female victim waited in the car, the male victim stepped out to meet with the suspects.

“The male subject realized there was no phone but only an empty phone box,” Clement said. “One of the supposed sellers then pulled a wooden bat from under his sweatshirt and the male subject ran toward a residence across the street as the suspect chased him. 

Meanwhile, the other suspect grabbed the female, pulled her from the car and stole her cell phone from the vehicle, Clement said. The two suspects fled the area on foot and no one was injured during the incident.

Clement said detectives have a few good leads in the case but would not comment on the investigation. He said the victims told 911 dispatchers that one suspect wore a white hooded sweatshirt and the other wore a blue hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with any information regarding the robbery or the suspects should call St. John Sheriff’s detectives at 985-359-8769.