Man held up at gunpoint in LaPlace hotel parking lot

Published 12:00 am Monday, December 29, 2008

By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff reporter

LAPLACE — Authorities in St. John are looking for two men who allegedly robbed a Mississippi man in the parking lot of a LaPlace hotel, said a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

A report on the incident states the 49-year-old victim told deputies he was getting out of his car at the Best Western Hotel, 4289 U.S. Highway 51, Monday evening when he was held up at gunpoint.

Maj. Mike Tregre, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said two men approached the victim in the parking lot around 7:38 p.m. He said one of the men pulled out a handgun and demanded the victim’s wallet.

The report said the victim struggled with the robbers before producing $80 in cash, which he threw to the ground. The suspects then fled the area in an unknown direction.

Tregre said the victim, a guest of the hotel, walked up to the front desk to report the robbery. He said investigators are looking for an unshaven white male, about 5 feet, 6inches tall, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and a black male, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, wearing a black jacket.

Anyone with information regarding the robbery should contact the St. John Sheriff’s Office at 985-652-6338.