Sheriff: Chase suspect punched, cut girlfriend

Published 4:27 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2015

LAPLACE — The LaPlace man responsible for leading authorities on a high-speed chase through three parishes Tuesday night is in custody.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said the pursuit began in St. John Parish and ended in Jefferson Parish after Cory Hebert — who Tregre called a “very dangerous individual” — refused to stop his car.

According to authorities, the incident began at 7:19 p.m. when a 28-year-old female walked into the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office Sherman Walker Correctional Center to report her ex-boyfriend, Hebert, had beaten her.

The victim, who authorities said wore wet clothing and only one flip-flop, sustained cuts, bruise, and superficial scratches to her face, neck, hands, arms and upper torso.

According to a Sheriff’s Office release, the female told deputies she and Hebert, with whom she’s had a 12-year relationship with, spent the afternoon together and got into an argument as they exited Interstate 10 at U.S. 51.

“Hebert drove north on U.S. Highway 51 to a remote area,” Tregre said. “The victim told investigators that Hebert punched her and cut her with a knife. He dragged her by the hair out of the truck and threw her cell phone in the water.”

Authorities reported the female said she tried to escape by jumping in the water, but Hebert followed her and dragged her by the arm out of the water and back into the truck.

“As Hebert drove toward LaPlace, the victim told Hebert that she was going to report the incident to the Sheriff’s Office,” Tregre said. “Hebert drove her to the Sherman Walker Correctional Center, where she exited the truck, and he drove off.”

Authorities said the female reported the altercation and refused medical treatment.

Tregre said 911 dispatchers later received a call from a person who identified himself as Hebert.

“He told dispatchers that if deputies came for him, they had better come heavily armed,” Tregre said. “After receiving the threat from Hebert, deputies talked by phone to Hebert for nearly an hour to calm him and have him meet with deputies, but Hebert refused. He told deputies that he was waiting for them with a loaded shotgun.”

Through the course of the investigation, investigators learned Hebert was driving the victim’s car, and deputies located the vehicle at the intersection of Airline Highway and Belle Terre Boulevard in LaPlace.

Authorities said when deputies attempted to stop Hebert, he fled at a high rate of speed south on Airline Highway, thus starting a chase stretching through St. Charles Parish into Kenner.

Tregre said two St. John Parish deputies were treated and have been released following injuries sustained in the chase and subsequent car wreck in Jefferson Parish involving one deputy’s car and a vehicle occupied by civilians.

Tregre said a female in the civilian vehicle is still hospitalized.

Hebert is in custody in Jefferson Parish, where he will face charges stemming from Tuesday’s crash, Tregre said, adding at one point Hebert pointed a shotgun at a deputy.

Tregre said Hebert, who has an extensive criminal history that includes multiple restraining orders, would be transferred to St. John Parish at a later date to face charges that include aggravated battery, false imprisonment, armed with a dangerous weapon, simple kidnapping, aggravated flight from an officer and unauthorized use of a movable.