AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – Last weekend was a busy one for St. John Parish sheriff’s deputies and detectives, who made five arrests in three separate early morning burglaries. According to SJPSO Capt. Mike Tregre, the first call came around 1:19 a.m. Saturday from the owner of ITA Auto and Truck Repair on U.S. Highway 51 in LaPlace. He told authorities there was a break-in in progress on a vehicle in his lot. When officers arrived on the scene they saw a male suspect near a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass and vehicle had its hubcaps removed. Another suspect was found in the surrounding area and both men were arrested. Gavin W. Ellis, 20, 1605 Cartier Drive, LaPlace, and Devalance Harris, 20, 182 W. Second St., LaPlace, were booked with criminal trespassing and theft. According to Tregre, the two had arrived in a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass and parked the car behind a panel truck to conceal it. “We stopped them before they had a chance to steal anything,” said Tregre. Ellis and Harris were released after each posted an $11,500 bond. A couple of hours later, an alarm went off at Milesville School in LaPlace and an officer arrived to find a freshly broken window and a computer monitor on the ground, Tregre said. Deputies quickly spotted a man running from the school toward the levee. The man was found sweaty, cut and bleeding and covered in grass. Some drops of blood were also found at the scene. Michael McLin, 41, 126 Triche Court, LaPlace, was booked with simple burglary. Tregre said McLin was attempting to steal computer equipment from the school when the alarm went off. McLin is being held at the Sherman R. Walker Correctional facility, and his bond was set at $45,787. On Monday at 3:13 a.m. an officer spotted a young man, later learned to be 16 years old, pushing a tire and rim on Shadow Lane in LaPlace toward a vehicle with an open trunk. A juvenile, the suspect was arrested for curfew violation. The tire and rim were taken from a truck parked at 375 Shadow Lane, and inside the juvenile’s trunk authorities found another tire from the truck. The officers also found 96 compact discs, believed to be stolen, inside the vehicle. “There were a number of items we feel fairly certain were stolen,” said Tregre, listing such items as a compact disc player face plate, a camera, binoculars, a BB gun, a compact disc changer, a spotlight, tools, hair trimmers and flashlights. The 16-year-old’s arrest and the investigation led to another arrest, also a 16 year old. “We are now looking for two more in that burglary,” Tregre added. “Summertime is usually a busy time for crime,” said Tregre, “and this weekend proved just that. “We were busy.”