By Stephen Hemelt
L’Observateur

RESERVE — The voice of a startled Reserve woman was enough to thwart an armed man who entered her home.

Deputies are still searching for the knife-wielding man, who struck in the 300 block of Reserve’s Central Avenue at 11:39 p.m. Oct. 16, but authorities don’t feel the crime is an indication of something larger.

“It was an isolated incident,” said Sgt. Dane Clement of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t have any other reports of any like that in the area or even in the parish.”

The 41-year-old female victim told deputies she did not close the door completely after arriving home late on the night of Oct. 16.

She turned around, authorities said, and saw a man with a knife telling her to keep quiet.

“He said, ‘be quiet,’ and she instinctively screamed and he ran,” Clement said, adding the assailant never contacted the victim with the knife.

The victim told deputies the perpetrator was about five-feet, eight-inches tall, black and had a medium build. He was wearing blue work shirt and pants.

Anyone with information regarding this is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office TIPS line at 985-359-TIPS or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.

“We just encourage (residents), if anything sticks out in their minds from something somebody had seen in that area, to let us know,” Clement said.