By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s deputies arrested a St. Rose man Friday in their investigation into a string of armed robberies in the parish.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Charles J. Conrad III, 29, 228 Mockingbird Ln., was taken into custody in connection with the January 17 armed robbery of Express Cleaners in Destrehan.

Yoes said the Sheriff’s Office tracked down Conrad through an investigation into a photo from a surveillance camera that showed a man standing next to a red Dodge Magnum parked at a carwash located behind the dry cleaning building. The picture did not give much detail on the features of the vehicle’s driver, but Yoes said detectives ran a search of the vehicle’s registration. This information, along with other investigative work, led to Conrad’s arrest.

In an e-mail to residents of St. Charles, Sheriff Greg Champagne praised the officers involved for the work that was done on the case. He said deputies and plain clothes officers worked long hours to ensure security while investigating the crimes.

Yoes said Friday that it is not yet clear whether Conrad was involved in the armed robberies of two other Destrehan area businesses, one on January 18 and another on January 14, but said the investigation is ongoing.

Conrad was charged with armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Yoes said Conrad has previous convictions for armed robbery, domestic battery, and drug charges. Conrad was booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility with a bond, set by State District Judge Robert Chaisson, of $500,000.