By VICKIE JAMBON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – St. John Parish authorities stopped a vehicle and arrested two men Sunday after one of the men fired gunshots at a 35-year-old LaPlace woman.

Joseph Matthews, 23, of 255 Chad B. Baker St. in Reserve and Kendell Marquell Sanders, 23, of 244 Elm St., Apt. A, in LaPlace were arrested by deputies with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Public Information Officer Sgt. Dane Clement said a call came into the Sheriff’s Office at approximately 7:37 p.m., reporting a shooting on Mt. Vernon Drive.

According to Clement, while an officer was questioning the victim, two deputies pulled over a gray car on Woodland Drive matching the description given by the witness.

The car was easily recognizable because the words “Playboy Slim” were spelled out across the windshield, said Clement.

Clement added, a thorough investigation by the deputies placed Sanders as the driver of the vehicle and Matthews as the passenger.

A 9mm pistol belonging to Matthews was recovered from the passenger’s side of the vehicle, on the floorboard, said Clement.

Clement said the handgun had two unspent rounds remaining in the magazine.

The victim told the officer she was getting into her pick-up truck when two men drove by and began firing shots at her.

She said her children were playing ball with their friends in the driveway, which is located in the front of the home.

Matthews was released Monday from the Sherman Walker Correctional Center, upon posting on a $35,000 bond.

Sanders remains in custody, with the same bond set, Clement added.