Suspect evades capture in Marrero car chase, community on alert

MARRERO, La. (WGNO) — Jefferson Parish deputies have called off the search for a man on the run on the Westbank, but neighbors are on high alert.

“My fear is, our children that live around here are real young. So for something like this to take place, it’s not something we look forward to,” Marrero resident Raymond Keir said.

Raymond Keir lives on Richland Drive near where the chase ended on Lapalco Boulevard and where a suspect bailed out and fled.

The chase started at Barataria and the West Bank Expressway with three people in a car under surveillance in a car burglary investigation.

“It’s been in connection with, several burglaries, you know, where they break out glass and actually steal purses out of it,” JPSO Sheriff Joe Lopinto said.

Deputies spotted the car and fired three shots at it as it slammed into a sheriff’s car.
      
“I don’t have any indication that any of the individuals were hit. You know, obviously we still have one at large. We don’t know that for a fact, but as of right now, I don’t have any indication that any of them were hit by their gunfire at this location,” Lopinto said.

Lopinto says two people in the car were later stopped, but a third person, a man, escaped on foot.

Deputies spent several hours searching nearby neighborhoods using drones and a helicopter looking for him.

“My child was riding his bike home from school, and I was seeing it, not able to get in touch with him, and he happened to have to go around the back way to get home, but he was able to get home and lock himself in,” Marrero resident Niki Hoffman said.

While the search was called off for the day, neighbors say they will continue to keep a watchful eye just in case.

“This is our neighborhood. So, we’re going to we’re going to stay together, and we’re going to stick together around here,” Keir said.

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