CHALMETTE, La. (WGNO) — Months after a St. Bernard carjacking involving a small child and attempted carjacking, a New Orleans suspect is in custody and deputies are searching for another.

A 17-year-old male is now facing charges of kidnapping, attempted armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping of a child, aggravated flight from an officer, and theft of a motor vehicle after a January incident.

On Jan. 24 just after 7 p.m., St. Bernard Parish deputies were alerted to an attempted carjacking scene on Buffon Street in Chalmette. Two victims reported they were in the area when two males got out of a light-colored SUV, one with a gun, and approached them.

The victims say they were able to escape the potential crime but minutes later deputies were called to the 2000 block of Paris Road where a 2019 Acura TL was stolen with a child inside. Deputies saw the vehicle speeding down Paris Road and followed it into eastern New Orleans, where the suspects got out and ran away.

It was later discovered the 6-year-old girl had been let out of the Acura at the corner of Delille and West Moreau Streets and was found unharmed, in the previously abandoned SUV.

Further investigations led the Criminal Investigations Bureau to the discovery that the carjacking and attempted carjacking were done by the same individuals. The 17-year-old subject was arrested and booked but the search continues for the second individual.

“If you come into our parish in a stolen vehicle and try to commit these kinds of crimes, we aren’t going to stop working until we catch you and arrest you,” the Sheriff said. “Our job is to deter these types of criminals from thinking they can come here and endanger our residents and our way of life.” 

Residents with information regarding this incident or any other criminal activity in St. Bernard Parish to call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501, the Criminal Investigations Bureau’s tip hotline at (504) 271-TIPS or 8477, or Crimestoppers GNO at (504) 822-1111.

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