By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s deputies were able to foil two unrelated attempted robberies this past week, one taking place at a home, and the other at a local business, said a spokesperson for the department.

According to Maj. Mike Tregre, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, the first incident occurred at a residence in the 8700 block of Sunnyside Drive in Laplace around 12:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Tregre said deputies responded to a call that the back door of the home was kicked in. An investigation revealed that a laptop computer and XBOX 360 videogame system were taken from the residence by a black male, wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, and a black backpack.

Tregre said the suspect, 21-year-old Alexander Robinson, was found 20 minutes later, next to a dumpster in the 8800 block of Richmond Drive. Tregre said investigators found a green laundry bag on the scene containing the items stolen from the residence.

According to a police report, while Robinson was being questioned about the bag and the robbery, he confessed his involvement in the burglary.

The report said Robinson was charged with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and criminal damage to property. He was booked into Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on $25,250 bond.

Later that same evening, deputies arrested two Hammond men attempting to burglarize a LaPlace mobile home dealership.

Tregre said when SJSO Deputy Michael Pugh arrived at River Parish RV, 2000 US Hwy. 51, around 10:42 p.m. Wednesday, he observed a subject, later identified as 40-year-old Alton Thompson of 1160 Faust Ln. in Hammond, run from behind the building and enter a 2008 Ford F-250 pickup located in a parking lot of a nearby business. The deputy said another subject, 25-year-old John Rodgers of 3 Pinoak Ln. in Hammond, was already inside the vehicle acting as a lookout for Thompson.

Tregre said officers on the scene discovered a two-foot opening in the fence and found a bag of tools and a saw on the ground near the hole. The deputy detained Thompson and Rodgers and questioned them about the incident. He said both men confessed to cutting the fence to steal a tire from a camper parked in the fenced area behind the RV dealership.

Both Rodgers and Thompson were charged with unauthorized entry of a place of business, criminal damage to property, and attempted theft. The men were being held without bond at the Sherman Walker Correctional facility in LaPlace.