Trio charged in a pair of St. John robberies

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 20, 2013

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies captured a trio of suspects in an armed robbery incident that occurred earlier this month.
On Sunday deputies responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 100 block of Ormond Boulevard in LaPlace. The 24-year-old male victim told deputies he was outside his residence and robbed at gunpoint by two male subjects. After he surrendered a sum of cash to them, they fled north toward Madewood Drive.
About an hour later, deputies responded to another armed robbery report, this time in the 400 block of Belmont Drive in LaPlace. The 26-year-old female victim told deputies that she was outside her residence, as was the first victim, when two male subjects in a white car drove up to her. One subject got out the car and robbed her at gunpoint. After she surrendered her cellphone to the perpetrators, they fled the area.
This time, the victim was able to provide deputies with a description of the vehicle and license plate information.
911 dispatchers shared the vehicle information to surrounding law enforcement agencies. It was eventually located and stopped near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Williams Boulevard in Kenner by officers from the Kenner Police Department.
Investigators arrested Kevin Rivas, 21, of Golfview Drive, LaPlace; Leonardo Paredes-Morales, 19, of Mississippi Avenue, Metairie; and Christian Hernandez, 18, of Division Street, Metairie. They were arrested and booked with two counts of armed robbery, and two counts of armed robbery with a firearm. The three are still in custody. Their bonds are $110,000 apiece.