By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE –St. John the Baptist Parish authorities arrested four people in connection with the armed robbery of Capital One Bank in Edgard Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

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

Clement said all four suspects were apprehended in St. Charles Parish near the intersection of River Road and Interstate 310 after an 11-hour manhunt Tuesday involving deputies from St. John and St. Charles parishes 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 left 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 Louisiana Highway 3127 toward I-310 into St. Charles Parish. Authorities said the pursuit was never at high speeds, but at one point the Charger “took off.”

The vehicle traveled to I-310, crossed the Hale Boggs Bridge and exited the interstate at River Road in Destrehan, where it crashed on the exit ramp around 1 p.m. Investigators found money from the bank inside the vehicle.

The three occupants, Harris, Richardson and Jordan, go out of the car and fled on foot into a wooded area behind Destrehan Plantation, Clement said. A manhunt ensued involving K-9 units, a helicopter and about 200 law enforcement officials.

During the course of the investigation, Clement said detectives learned that Beverly was in Edgard with the other suspects prior to and during the robbery. Authorities said Beverly was driving a gold Chevrolet Lumina that was seen near the bank and also in the search area.

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. 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. Investigators also recovered a handgun on the railroad tracks near the search area. Clement said detectives believe the gun was used in the robbery.

Clement said Harris, Richardson and Beverly all have criminal histories in St. John Parish.

Harris had been previously arrested on narcotics charges and for simple burglary, Richardson for armed robbery and manslaughter, and Beverly for simple robbery, aggravated assault of a police officer and distribution of marijuana.

All four suspects were being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace in lieu of bonds, which were set at $250,000 for each individual by Judge Mary Hotard Becnel.