By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur

ST. ROSE — A quartet of bandits, three armed with guns, targeted a St. Rose distribution warehouse and made off with a large amount of prescription drugs early Saturday, according to a release from the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office, said the four men, all dressed in black with coverings over their faces, forced two employees at the warehouse, located on East James Drive in St. Rose, to load the drugs, which were contained in grey and red storage bins secured with blue tie wraps, onto a 24- to 26-foot-long box truck that was backed into a loading dock at the warehouse.

Yoes said one of the robbers was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and said two others had handguns. He said once the drugs were loaded onto the box truck, the suspects locked the two employees inside a trailer near the warehouse. The employees were not harmed during the robbery, Yoes said.

According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, the suspects are described as black males with a thin build who range in height from 5 ft. 5 in. to 6 ft. 1 in. Yoes said one of the suspects was also described as having a goatee and acne scars on his face.

The incident is still under investigation and anyone who may have any information on the robbery is asked to contact Det. Brad Walsh at 985-783-1135 or 985-783-6807. Citizens can also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-877-903-STOP. Informants do not need to give their name and could be eligible for a $2,500 reward.