LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / October 2, 1999

LULING – Technology teamed with ill-planning, resulting in the swift arrest of an alleged bank robber Tuesday afternoon.

Lt. Dwayne LaGrange reported that at 11:50 on Sept. 28, Brian Soulie, 22,202 Fifth Street, Luling, walked into the Hibernia National Bank branch at 811 Paul Maillard Road, Luling.

LaGrange said Soulie approached a bank teller, produced a plastic bag and ordered the teller to “fill it up and hurry it up.”The alleged robber displayed no weapon and wore no disguise or mask, the spokesman added.

After the teller complied, adding a dye-pack at the same time, Soulie left the bank running toward his residence, less than a block away, not far from First Baptist Church of Luling.

A witness told deputies he had seen a man fitting his description running from the bank with a plastic bag in hand.

Deputies swarmed into the area, cordoned off Fifth and Sixth streets and summoned the K-9 squad and the department’s high-risk entry team, a specially-trained, eight-man unit.

“We want to thank the neighbors for being cooperative and staying indoors,” LaGrange added.

Deputies were also stationed at the Wee Center daycare of First Baptist Church before they determined Savoie’s exact whereabouts. Then, LaGrangecontinued, entry was made, Savoie was taken into custody safely and the alleged robbery loot was recovered within an hour of the robbery. He wasthen booked on a single count of armed robbery.

“The K-9s tracked him straight to his residence,” LaGrange commented. Inaddition, other technology was available to do the same thing.

The sheriff’s spokesman added that dye-packs nowadays also include a transmitter which trips on within seconds of leaving the bank. With areceiver, police can easily home in on the dye-pack and, presumably, the money and suspect.

At his arraignment Wednesday for the armed robbery charge, Savoie’s bond was set at $500,000 by 29th Judicial District Judge Kirk Granier.

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