By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A LaPlace man and two juveniles were arrested Sunday after they allegedly robbed two men near a drainage ditch, said a spokesman for the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities booked Carlos Parilla, 18, a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy on charges of armed robbery with a firearm Sunday after the three men were identified by the victims as the robbers, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office.

Clement said deputies spotted the trio walking near the scene and stopped them to question them when the victims, two 43-year-old LaPlace men, walked up and identified them.

According to a report on the incident, the victims were standing near a ditch bank in the 100 block of Colony Drive about 2 p.m. Sunday when the suspects, all dressed in dark clothing and holding handguns, came up to them. The report said the three men took the victims’ wallets and a cell phone. Clement said deputies spotted the suspects just a few blocks away and made the arrest.

Clement said the victims described two handguns used during the robbery, and authorities recovered three guns from an apartment on Cambridge Drive belonging to Parilla’s girlfriend.

Parilla, whose address is listed at 227 Joe Parquet Circle, and the two juveniles are being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on $120,000 bonds. Clement said the juveniles are waiting to be transported to the St. James Juvenile Detention Center.