Armed pizza robbery charges dropped in weapons plea

Published 12:13 am Wednesday, January 24, 2018

LAPLACE — A local teenager connected to two armed robberies of pizza delivery drivers had those charges dropped as part of a plea agreement for weapons possession, authorities said.

According to the St. John the Baptist Parish Clerk of Court’s Office, 19-year-old Dominik Johnson pleaded guilty last month to carrying a firearm or dangerous weapon by a student or nonstudent on school property.

Johnson was sentenced to a suspended five years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections and placed on three years of active probation.

He was given credit for all time served since his April 6, 2016, arrest and ordered to pay $865 in courts fees and fines. He also was made responsible for a $71 monthly probation fee.

As part of his sentence, Johnson must perform 80 hours of community service.

According to the Clerk’s office, as part of the plea agreement with prosecutors, other charges were dropped including armed robbery with a firearm.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office said Johnson — 17 at the time of his arrest April 6, 2016 — was connected to armed robberies on Feb. 27 on Hebert Drive and Aug. 29 on River Pointe Drive.

Authorities said the Aug. 29 robbery involved stolen cash and pizza in a case where a 19-year-old male victim told deputies he was making a pizza delivery when two male juveniles robbed him sometime after 9:20 p.m. in the 100 block of River Pointe Drive in Reserve.

“One perpetrator pointed a handgun at the victim and told him to drop the pizzas and to empty his wallet,” Sheriff Mike Tregre said at the time. “After the victim complied with the demands of the perpetrator, the two perpetrators fled on foot with the pizza order and cash from the victim’s wallet.”

Johnson also was previously arrested March 12, 2016, for criminal trespassing, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, resisting an officer, illegal carrying of a firearm and illegal carrying a firearm in a firearm free zone.

Deputies found Johnson and others on the vacant East St. John Elementary campus. As deputies began to investigate, one of the subjects fled. During a brief foot pursuit, the subject, identified as Johnson, threw away a handgun that was in his possession, police said.