3 arrested after “extensive” police pursuit of stolen ATV throughout LaPlace

Published 1:13 pm Friday, December 28, 2018

LAPLACE — Three local men who apparently wanted to joyride together on a stolen ATV had their bonding experience derailed when they were captured following a vehicle and foot pursuit through LaPlace roads and neighborhoods, police said.

“We chased them all over LaPlace during primetime traffic,” Sheriff Mike Tregre said. “There was an extensive foot chase, over the fence, back over the fence. We chased them for about 20 minutes.”

Those arrested include 23-year-old Justin Chilton, 20-year-old Brett Williams and 19 year-old Brice Kareem Llewellyn, each of LaPlace.

The police pursuit began at approximately 3:10 p.m. Thursday when deputies responded to Capt. G. Bourgeois Street, where a victim told police three men stole his ATV.

The victim lost sight of the subjects; however, 30 minutes later officers canvassing the area spotted three men on an ATV in the area of West Fifth and Elm streets.

Officers initiated a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop and led officers on a chase in which he “drove dangerously along roadways on Hemlock Street onto Airline Highway, eventually crashing the ATV into a gate of a business near the 1300 block of Airline Highway,” according to the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The three men on the ATV fled on foot along the railroad tracks towards West Fifth Street. Officers set up a perimeter and eventually were able to apprehend three suspects between the 300 and 400 blocks of West Fifth Street.

Chilton and Williams were booked with misdemeanor illegal possession of stolen things and are being held in lieu of a $500 bond.

Llewellyn is charged with felony theft between $5,000 and $25,000, reckless operation of a vehicle and operating a vehicle with a suspended license. He is being held in custody in lieu of an $11,000 bond.