Arrests Made After Juvenile Pistol Whipped in LaPlace

Published 1:52 pm Friday, March 17, 2023

Three people were arrested after a male juvenile was pistol whipped in a LaPlace neighborhood.

On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, about 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a report in reference to a 15-year-old male beaten in the head with handguns. Arrested were Raishad Batiste, 21, of LaPlace, a 16-year-old male from LaPlace and another 16-year-old male from Reserve.

Upon officers’ arrival, the juvenile reported that he was walking on Cinclair Loop in LaPlace when a group of males, armed with guns, came from behind a house, approached him, and beat him in the back of the head with the guns then fled the scene in a car. Emergency medical services arrived on scene, and the victim refused medical services. A motive has not been determined at this time.

Shortly after, the SJSO SWAT team arrived on scene. Through investigation and surveillance video, officers got descriptions of the suspects, and the car they were driving.

Video showed the suspects exiting a Nissan Altima at a residence in the 500 block of Homewood Place in Reserve. As SWAT officers approached the residence, the suspects attempted to flee the area on foot. Officers observed a male, later identified as Raishad Batiste, 21, jump a fence, and throw a gun across the fence, attempting to hide it in a ditch. They observed another subject, later identified as a 16-year-old male from LaPlace, jump the fence then discard two guns in the backyard of another residence in the 500 block of Homewood Place. Another suspect, later identified as a 16-year-old male from Reserve, also attempted to flee from the backyard of the Homewood Place residence. The three suspects were apprehended.

Officers recovered in the ditch the firearm, a Glock, which was illegally converted to fully automatic. They also recovered the two guns, a Glock and a Smith and Wesson, discarded in the backyard of another residence on Homewood Place. Based on investigation, detectives executed a search warrant for the Homewood Place residence where they discovered two more Glocks.

Raishad Batiste, 21, of LaPlace, was charged with resisting an officer by flight (misd) and obstruction of justice. He was taken into custody and released March 15, 2023. One 16-year-old of LaPlace was booked with illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile (felony), aggravated assault (misd) and aggravated battery (felony). Another 16-year-old of Reserve was charged with resisting an officer by flight (misd). The juveniles were released to a parent.