By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Authorities arrested a 16-year-old LaPlace youth who allegedly stole a 15-year-old schoolmate’s cash at gunpoint late Tuesday night, the St. John Sheriff’s Office reported.

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office would not say what school the youths attended, but noted that the robbery took place far from school grounds at the 200 block of Elm Street shortly after 9 p.m.

The 16-year-old allegedly approached the victim and asked him &#8220what he had,” when the victim laughed it off as a joke and responded that &#8220he had nothing.” The 16-year-old then took away any misunderstandings and brandished a silver revolver and told him to, &#8220give me what you got,” before the 15-year-old handed him five dollars, according to the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

The alleged robber took the money and found $65 in a search of the victim’s pockets before he sprinted off.

The 15-year-old met with officers at the scene of the robbery and identified the classmate that allegedly robbed him to authorities, who tracked down the 16-year-old minutes later roughly one block away on the 200 block of Joe Parquet Circle.

The 16-year-old was booked with a $20,000 bond for armed robbery and will be held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Center until he is either bonded out or transferred to the currently full St. James Juvenile Detention Center when a bed becomes available.