This story was updated at 12:57 p.m. Wednesday, May 5

By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Authorities in St. John have arrested four men in connection with the armed robbery of an Edgard Capital One Bank Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

Errol Harris, 27, and Corey Richardson, 36, were booked with armed robbery, while Doriyah Jordan, 20, and Vincent Beverly, 21, were booked with criminal conspiracy to armed Robbery, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office. Clement said all of the suspects involved are from New Orleans.

Clement said all four suspects were apprehended in St. Charles Parish near the intersection of River Road and I-310 after a massive manhunt Tuesday involving deputies from St. John and St. Charles, as well as members of the Kenner Police Department.

According to a release from the St. John Sheriff’s Office, two men wearing black ski masks entered the Capital One Bank on Louisiana Highway 18 in Edgard and robbed the bank at gunpoint around 11:50 a.m. Tuesday. An elderly customer inside the bank was forced to the ground by one of the suspects, but no one was injured during the incident.

The suspects exited the bank with an undetermined amount of money and fled the area heading south on LA 18 in a grey Dodge Charger, according to the release.

Clement said a St. John deputy located the vehicle and followed it traveled on LA 3127 toward I-310 into St. Charles Parish. The vehicle crossed the Hale Boggs Bridge and exited the interstate at River Road in Destrehan, where the vehicle crashed on the exit ramp around 1 p.m.

The three occupants exited the car and fled the scene on foot into a wooded area behind Destrehan Plantation, Clement said. A manhunt ensued into the night involving K-9 units, a helicopter and about 200 law enforcement officials.

The manhunt forced three schools close to the area – Harry Hurst Middle School, the East Bank Head Start Center and St. Charles Borromeo – to be on lockdown for about two hours as a precaution to prevent possible intrusion. Authorities in St. Charles said all three schools dismissed on time under close supervision of St. Charles deputies.

Clement said two suspects were apprehended behind Destrehan Plantation and a third was found near a grain elevator close by. The fourth was found later in the evening in a church parking lot. He said all four suspects are being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace in lieu of bonds, which were set at $250,000 for each individual.

Anyone with information regarding the robbery is asked to contact the St. John Sheriff’s Office at 985-359-8769, or CrimeStoppers at 504-822-1111.