By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s deputies, acting on an arrest warrant for a LaPlace man in connection with an attempted murder investigation, got more than they bargained for when they found the suspect at a makeshift drug lab in Reserve.

Authorities were searching for Darren Sterling, 43, of LaPlace, a suspect in a shooting Dec. 31 that injured a 38-year-old LaPlace woman, said Capt. Dane Clement, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

According to a Sheriff’s Office release, deputies working a holiday detail at a shopping center heard gunfire near the 100 block of Ormond Boulevard just before 3:30 p.m. Friday. When they arrived at the scene they found the woman, who had been shot multiple times in the abdomen and arm.

Clement said witnesses told detectives that Sterling, who had been a longtime boyfriend of the victim until just a few weeks ago, was the gunman. Clement said Sterling approached the woman as she was closing her place of business.

Sterling and the woman got into a verbal and physical altercation before Sterling pulled out a handgun and shot the woman, Clement said. Sterling then fled the area in a white, four-door Ford Contour driven by another man.

Clement said friends of the women drove her to River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace. She was in stable condition and later transferred to University Hospital in New Orleans. No one else was injured in the shooting.

A warrant was issued for Sterling’s arrest Saturday. Clement said tips received at the detective bureau indicated that Sterling was seen at a residence on East 12th Street Extension in Reserve. Clement said authorities entered the home about 6:30 p.m. Saturday and arrested Sterling on attempted first-degree murder charges. Sterling was booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace, where he is being held on a $1.1 million bond.

As deputies were making the arrest, however, they also recognized what resembled a clandestine drug laboratory inside the home, Clement said. He said the arresting deputies notified narcotics detectives, who obtained a judicial search warrant of the home. Upon executing that warrant, detectives then arrested the four other occupants of the home.

Bobby Boudreaux, 38, of Reserve, was charged with two counts of possession with the intent to distribute a schedule II controlled dangerous substance, possession of 12 grams or more of Ephedrine, possession of a weapon while in possession with Intent to Distribute narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a clandestine lab for the unlawful manufacture of narcotics. His bond was set at $191,500.

Laine Cortez, 28, of Reserve, was charged with possession of a schedule II controlled dangerous substance, possession with the intent to distribute a schedule II controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a clandestine lab for the unlawful manufacture of narcotics. Her bond was set at $111,500.

Shawn Grady, 36, of Reserve, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute a schedule II controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a clandestine lab for the unlawful manufacture of narcotics. His bond was set at $91,500.

Jill Montz, 30, of Reserve was charged with possession with the intent to distribute a schedule II controlled dangerous substance and operating a clandestine lab for the unlawful manufacture of narcotics. Her bond was set at $90,000.

Clement said Sterling was charged in a separate warrant with possession with intent to distribute a schedule II controlled dangerous substance and operating a clandestine lab for the manufacture of narcotics.