By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

COVINGTON – A LaPlace man and a Hammond man trying to elude authorities after an armed robbery of a Covington fast food restaurant Wednesday were killed when their car ran off the road and struck several trees, according to a release from State Police.

Ronald Hasaan Darenseurg Jr., 20, of LaPlace, and Frank Beard Jr., 21, of Hammond, were traveling at speeds between 100 and 120 mph on U.S. Highway 190 west of Covington in Tangipahoa Parish when the accident occurred, said Trooper Melissa Matey, a State Police spokesperson. She said the suspects’ vehicle struck the rear of another vehicle before losing control and crashing. There were no injuries in the second vehicle.

According to Covington Police, the incident began around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with the armed robbery of a Covington McDonalds on U.S. Highway 190. Darenseurg and Beard, who were armed with semiautomatic handguns, entered the restaurant and removed about $2,000 in cash from registers at the counter, said Covington Police Chief Richard Palmisano.

Palmisano said witnesses called police as the robbery was taking place. He said as the two men fled the restaurant in a 2000 Toyota Avalon being driven by Beard. Covington Police followed the vehicle as it left the restaurant. They were later joined by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies.

“A witness was able to get a description of the car and remembered the license plate number,” Palmisano said. “We were able to broadcast that to law enforcement agencies in the area.”

Authorities pursued the vehicle for several miles on U.S. Highway 190 from Covington into Tangipahoa Parish before the crash. Palmisano said the chase ended about a mile west of Louisiana Highway 445 in Robert when the Toyota glanced off a pickup truck and spun off the highway into the trees.

“From what we could tell one victim was ejected from the car, and the other had to be cut from the car,” Palmisano said.

Matey said toxicology reports from Darenseurg and Beard are pending. She said neither of the men was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

State Police were not involved in the chase but are investigating the wreck in the same manner as if it had not occurred during a pursuit, Matey said.