Youth cites hunger as motive

By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – After going to drastic measures to get something to eat, an 11-year-old boy was taken into custody this past Thursday when a St. John Sheriff’s Office investigation tied him to the armed robbery of a pizza delivery driver’s food order.

Maj. Mike Tregre, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said the boy confessed to the robbery while being questioned by detectives about the incident. The boy’s mother was present during questioning.

The boy told investigators he called Domino’s Pizza and ordered $35 worth of pizza, buffalo wings, and cheesy bread. He said when the driver got to his house, the boy took the order, which was contained in a heated bag, valued at $250, and pointed a handgun at the driver when she protested.

No money was taken during the robbery, and investigators said the boy’s motive was that he was hungry.

Tregre said the boy, whose name was not released, was charged with armed robbery after the brief interview with detectives. The charge is considered a felony. He was booked into the St. James Youth Detention Center where he awaits a continued custody hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Tregre said the incident occurred January 8, when a 22-year-old Domino’s driver was making a delivery in the 2500 block of Virginian Colony Avenue around 2:20 p.m.

The driver told sheriff’s deputies that the boy had been sitting on a car in the driveway when she pulled up to make her delivery. She said the boy questioned the contents of the order as she was getting out of her car. When she put the food down to review the order, the boy reached into her car and grabbed the heated bag with the food inside. When she asked what he was doing, the boy pulled out a handgun and began walking down the street, then out of sight between two houses.

The mother of the 11-year-old boy told authorities she thought her son was in school when the robbery took place, Tregre said.

Tregre said the boy told detectives that the gun was real. The sheriff’s office is trying to locate the weapon and determine how the boy got possession of it. Tregre said the investigation is still open, and more arrests could be made in the case.