Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – A St. John Sheriff’s Office detective investigating an unrelated incident helped apprehend two men who were allegedly selling stolen goods from the trunk of a car in a LaPlace parking lot, said a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Maj. Mike Tregre, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Dwayne Stemley, 20, 211 Persimmon St., LaPlace, and Gary Oneal Jr., 21, 516 Fife St., LaPlace, were taken into custody after offering a set of golf clubs to Lt. Feldon Carney, a plain-clothed detective working an investigation in the 1700 block of East Airline Highway. According to a report on the arrest, after agreeing to the purchase, Carney approached a green Pontiac Grand Prix containing the clubs, assorted power tools, shoes and a brand new child’s bicycle.

The report said when the men noticed Carney’s badge on his waistband, Oneal made an attempt to flee the scene. Tregre said Stemley was detained before he could move and Oneal was captured after a brief foot chase.

Tregre said when officers questioned the suspects about the goods in the car the two men provided conflicting statements. He said officers suspected that the property was stolen.

Tregre said later that same afternoon, investigators discovered an open back door at a residence in the 100 block of Riverlands Drive in Laplace. The homeowner reported some of the items were missing from his garage, and he was able to identify the power tools and golf clubs as his.

Stemley and Oneal were booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility on charges of criminal damage, simple burglary and criminal trespass. The men remain in custody in lieu of separate bonds of $16,500.

Tregre said the investigation is still active and detectives are trying to obtain a search warrant for the vehicle to determine whether additional items inside came from that LaPlace home or from other reported burglaries in the area. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 985-652-6338.