St. John duo linked to string of business break-ins
Published 2:47 pm Tuesday, August 5, 2014
LAPLACE — Two St. John men have been implicated in a burglary spree that spanned months and included the theft of $20,000 worth of electronic equipment.
A St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy was patrolling behind the Belle Terre Plaza shopping center at 3:15 a.m. Sunday when he saw two men standing near the back door of a business.
“When the deputy shined a spotlight in the area, the two men laid on the ground attempting to hide from the deputy,” a release from the Sheriff’s Office said. “The two subjects were detained and identified as Albert Joseph, 17, of Reserve and Devante Ferrygood, 22, of Garyville.”
Authorities said a crow bar, bolt cutters and a duffle bag near the back door of the business were discovered.
Detectives were notified of the arrests this week due to recent burglaries of businesses.
“During an interview with detectives, Albert Joseph confessed to the attempted burglary of T-Mobile (early Sunday), the burglary of the UPS store on Aug. 1 and the attempted burglary of the Verizon store on July 28,” authorities said. “The investigation revealed that Joseph and Ferrygood were responsible for the burglaries of the Verizon store on June 26 and July 6, when cell phones and tablets, valued at $20,000, were stolen from the store.”
Joseph is charged with three counts of principal to simple criminal damage to property, two counts of attempted simple burglary and three counts of simple burglary.
He remains in custody in lieu of a $112,500 bond.
Ferrygood is charged with three counts of simple criminal damage to property, two counts of attempted simple burglary and three counts of simple burglary.
He remains in custody in lieu of a $108,000 bond.
“Most of the cell phones and tablets stolen from the Verizon store have not been recovered, and detectives believe the devices are being sold on the streets,” authorities said.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office TIPS line at 985-359-TIPS or submit a tip at stjohnsheriff.com/submitatip.php.
