LAPLACE – Officials at the Kenner Police Department said a group of teenagers, including one from LaPlace, distracted a woman, shocked her with a stun gun
and robbed her while pointing a pistol at her chest.
The robbery occurred Friday, Sept. 6, around 9:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Helena Street in Kenner. The victim, a 23-year-old woman, was getting out of her vehicle when a 13-year-old boy approached her and asked for a cigarette lighter, according to Sgt. Brian McGregor, spokesman for the Kenner Police Department.
The woman refused, noting the teen’s age. But an older boy, later identified as Joshua Martin, 18, of 2644 English Colony Drive, LaPlace, stepped up and told the woman the lighter was for him. The woman agreed to light Martin’s cigarette but didn’t notice the boys’ two companions approaching from nearby.
According to reports, an unidentified 16-year-old girl reached out and shocked the victim with a stun gun. Martin then allegedly pulled out a pistol, pointed it at the woman’s chest and demanded money.
The woman angrily told Martin she had no money, only the bag of groceries and she had just purchased from a store. Martin then snatched the bag and took off southbound down Helena Street, the report said. The other teens ran north toward Veterans Memorial Boulevard.
The woman contacted Kenner Police, who searched the area for the teens. Officers found Martin on a nearby canal bank in the 2600 block of Albany Street in Kenner, the report said. He confessed to his role in the hold-up and took officers to the stolen property and the pistol, which turned out to be a realistic-looking Airsoft pellet gun, the arrest report said.
The victim suffered two burn marks on her right side from the stun gun.
Martin identified Kendreka Patterson, 17, of 825 27th St. in Kenner, as one of his accomplices, but told investigators she was not the person who wielded the stun gun, the arrest report said. Officers arrested Patterson at her residence on Saturday. During questioning, Patterson placed herself at the scene of the crime but said she was  innocent because she stood back as the robbery took place, according to the arrest report.
McGregor said officers also arrested the 13-year-old boy and the 16-year-old girl who shocked the victim. Names will not be released, but both juveniles are from Kenner.
Police booked all four teens with armed robbery. The 16-year-old girl was also booked with aggravated battery while the rest were charged with principal to aggravated battery, McGregor said. Officers also booked Martin with misrepresentation during booking, because he initially lied to investigators and said his name was Joshua Dennis, an arrest report said.
Martin was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Monday, where he remained
as of press time. His bond is $200,500. Patterson’s bond was set at $200,000.