Reserve man subdues would-be car burglar, police say

Published 1:48 pm Thursday, November 3, 2016

RESERVE — An alleged vehicle burglar got more than he bargained for in the early morning hours last weekend.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said when deputies responded to a residence in the 100 block of River Pointe in Reserve at 5:13 a.m. Sunday, they found the owner of the vehicle had a perpetrator detained on the ground.

Donte Labranche

Donte Labranche

“No one was injured during the incident,” Tregre said. “The 43-year-old male victim told deputies that when he was leaving for work, he saw the perpetrator in the passenger seat of his vehicle. He detained the perpetrator and called the Sheriff’s Office.”

Deputies identified the suspect as Donte Labranche, 18, of LaPlace and arrested him, recovering gray FC blue-tooth earphones stolen from the vehicle in the process.

Labranche is booked with simple burglary of a motor vehicle and remains jailed in lieu of a $15,000 bond and a Louisiana Probation and Parole hold.

Tregre said Labranche has been arrested in St. John Parish four times since June 2015 for shoplifting, simple burglary of a motor vehicle (five counts) and aggravated battery.