LAPLACE — A local man was jailed last week, accused of drug possession and fracturing an elderly woman’s cheekbone during an attempted daylight carjacking in LaPlace.

Authorities said the incident took place at approximately 11:30 a.m. May 16 in the parking lot of a doctor’s office in the 1700 block of Cannes Drive.

The victim, an 83-year-old female, was entering her car when a male subject attempted to enter the vehicle from the passenger side door, which was locked.

According to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, the assailant ran around to the driver’s side door, forced it open and demanded the victim exit the vehicle.

“When the victim refused to get out of the car, he began punching her in the face,” a Sheriff’s Office release said. “As a witness came to the victim’s aid, (the assailant) fled the scene. Another witness stopped a deputy working nearby traffic enforcement to report the attack. The witnesses described the suspect and the direction in which he fled the scene.”

Shortly after, police said, deputies captured David Sheppard, 22, of Reserve on Madewood Drive. As Sheppard was being taken into custody, officers observed him throwing a plastic bag containing synthetic cannabinoids into a nearby pond.

Officers were able to retrieve the item.

Emergency medical services tended to the victim at the scene before bringing her to a local hospital for treatment on a fractured cheek bone and other injuries. Authorities said she was released shortly thereafter.

Sheppard is being held under a $91,500 bond, charged with attempted carjacking, cruelty to the infirmed and possession of cannabinoids/synthetic marijuana.