By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A Reserve man was booked with attempted murder charges after he struck another man with a baseball bat during an argument in LaPlace, according to the St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office.

Eric Blackwell, 21, of NW Third Street, Reserve, was booked with attempted second-degree murder charges when he surrendered to sheriff’s deputies Monday evening, said Sheriff Mike Tregre. Blackwell was also charged with aggravated criminal damage to property for ramming his vehicle into another vehicle during the altercation that led to the baseball bat beating.

According to a Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were called to the 1200 block of West Airline Highway in LaPlace around 4 p.m. last Thursday in response to a reported fight in a parking lot. Tregre said when deputies arrived they found a 22-year-old LaPlace man bleeding from a wound to his head. He was transported to River Parishes Hospital for treatment for trauma to the head. His condition is unknown. No one else was injured during the incident.

The investigation into the incident revealed the victim and another man, later identified as Blackwell, were engaged in a physical altercation. The parties were separated, and the victim left as a passenger in a vehicle.  

Tregre said Blackwell followed the vehicle and rammed it with the car he was driving. When the driver of the hit vehicle stepped out to check for damages, Blackwell exited his vehicle with a baseball bat in hand. When the victim exited the struck vehicle, Blackwell hit him in the head with the baseball bat and fled the scene.

Once authorities identified Blackwell as the suspect, detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest. Blackwell surrendered to a deputy from the Warrants Division Monday evening. He is being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on a $210,000 bond.