LAPLACE — Three Reserve residents, including one convicted felon, were arrested Wednesday night in St. John the Baptist Parish when a traffic stop led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia and a stolen firearm.

Two officers were on patrol near Dove Street in LaPlace when they saw what appeared to be an object stuck under a nearby vehicle.

The officers pulled up to the side of the vehicle to speak with the female driver, who rolled down the window. Immediately, officers smelled the strong scent of marijuana emanating from the vehicle, according to Sheriff Mike Tregre.

“The officers could see, in plain view, there was marijuana in the car,” Tregre said. “Once they entered the car to retrieve the narcotics, that’s where the gun was observed, which came back as stolen.”

Three of the vehicle occupants, Ryan Stewart, 25, Charley Emile Rousseve, 20, and a 17-year-old male juvenile, were taken into custody and booked between 7 and 8:15 p.m. Wednesday night.

The female driver was not arrested, according to Tregre.

“The evidence of the narcotics and the firearms was all in the back seat in the possession of the people in the rear of the car,” Tregre said.

The male juvenile was released five hours after his arrest into the custody of his grandmother. He remains on court-ordered house arrest.

The juvenile is charged with possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia — first offense, illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance, principal to distribution/manufacturing of schedule I controlled dangerous substance, illegal possession of a stolen firearm and illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile.

Rousseve remained in custody with a $41,500 Friday afternoon, according to Tregre.

Rousseve is charged with illegal possession of a stolen firearm, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance, possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia — first offense and taking contraband to or from penal institution.

Tregre said he is very familiar with Stewart, adding the 25-year-old has been arrested dozens of times in St. John the Baptist Parish.

In 2015, Stewart was arrested and booked on one felony charge of illegal possession of stolen things after authorities said he stole two golf carts.

He initially identified himself by a fictitious name when confronted by police but later gave a deputy his real name.

At the time of the investigation, he was linked to other theft and burglary investigations in the Reserve area.

In 2017, Stewart was arrested on three counts of burglary; all linked to Guidry’s Goodies snowball stand in Reserve.

Through investigation, investigators also learned Stewart burglarized Road Runner in Reserve in February 2017.

Tregre said Stewart pleaded guilty as charged to the Guidry’s Goodies robberies.

“He’s the one who broke into the snowball stand three times in a row and we caught him,” Tregre said.

“He got out of jail. He pled guilty. He’s a convicted felon. Anytime you have a gun, especially a stolen gun with narcotics, nothing good is going to come out of this situation. For him to be a convicted felon, recently pleading guilty to all the previous crimes he has committed, it’s apparent he has not been rehabilitated.”

Stewart is charged with possession of firearm/carry concealed weapon by a convicted felon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, principal to distribution/manufacturing of schedule I controlled dangerous substance, illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance and possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia — first offense.

He remained in custody as of Friday afternoon with a $28,000 bond.