ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / July 24, 2000

LAPLACE – A 15 year-old LaPlace boy who was arrested last week for auto burglary is in trouble again with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’sOffice.

Last week the boy was arrested and charged with six counts of auto burglary, accused of breaking into cars on Main Street, stealing a variety of items and inadvertently leaving a paper trail that led police right to his door.

This week the boy was released from the St. James Juvenile DetentionCenter and immediately got in trouble again.

According to Capt. Mike Tregre, the young suspect was spotted by an off-duty Maj. Robert Hay walking down old U.S. Highway 51 looking into cars.Hay approached the boy and began questioning him, then patted him down and found a large amount of cash and coins in the boy’s pocket. Hay also found agun.

Hay took the boy to the sheriff’s office, and he confessed to six more auto burglaries along the side streets on old Highway 51. The gun had been stolenfrom one of the cars, and the coins and cash added up to the amount of money missing from the other robberies.

“It looks like he was up to his old tricks,” said Tregre. “Again, he was lookingfor cars that were unlocked and easy to get into.”Not only is the boy charged with six more auto burglaries, he was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Once again the boy isawaiting his fate in St. James Juvenile Detention Center.

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