By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Authorities in St. John arrested a LaPlace man Tuesday morning in connection with an alleged robbery of a man leaving a LaPlace convenience store Friday afternoon.

A St. John Sheriff’s Office spokesman said a second man, who allegedly assisted in the robbery, was apprehended Wednesday afternoon.

Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Lance Permillion, 33, was picked up just after 10 a.m. Tuesday at a residence on Pine Street. He is one of two men suspected of robbing a 66-year-old man as he stood in the doorway of a convenience store located in the 900 block of East Airline Highway.

Permillion was booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on charges of simple robbery. Clement said bond information was not yet available pending a hearing Wednesday.

Clement said authorities used video surveillance recordings and a description from the victim to identify Permillion and 28-year-old Kendall Smith of LaPlace as suspects in the incident, which took place just after 2 p.m.

According to a report on the robbery, the two suspects physically overpowered the victim as he tried to leave the store. The victim was thrown to the ground and robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash.

Clement said the victim told detectives that he knew his attackers and would recognize them in a photo lineup. Clement said detectives believe the robbers knew the victim had a large sum of money on him but would not elaborate further. Neither of the suspects were armed during the incident.