BATON ROUGE – Three 16-year-old juveniles are facing charges of vehicular burglary after a crime spree in a Baton Rouge apartment complex early Wednesday morning. One of the suspects was shot while attempting to break into a car.
Representatives with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office (EBRSO) and the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) were among those who responded to the reported shooting at the Armstrong Apartments along Burbank Drive.
Officials with BRPD were initially dispatched to the area around 7:30 a.m., as the incident was originally reported on Jennifer Jean Drive, which is in BRPD’s jurisdiction.
But after their initial investigation into the shooting revealed that the incident also involved a part of Burbank Drive that falls in EBRSO’s jurisdiction, deputies with the sheriff’s office were called to the scene.
According to EBRSO deputies, the incident appeared to be an attempted vehicle burglary that ended when one suspect was shot.
They say the 16-year-old suspect was seen trying to break into a vehicle near Armstrong Apartments, but it’s unclear if he was armed. The owner of the vehicle who saw the teen breaking in attempted to stop the burglary from happening.
“He went up to them, confronted them. He said one of the subjects appeared to have a weapon in his hand,” said Casey Hicks with the Sherriff’s Office.
During the confrontation, investigators say the vehicle owner shot and injured one of the teens. The vehicle owner then took the juvenile to a residence on Jennifer Jean Drive to get his stolen items back.
“Then a short time later, a 911 call came in stating that there was a 16-year-old shot inside an apartment on Jennifer Jean Drive,” said Hicks.
The wounded suspect was then taken to an area medical facility for treatment. He is facing 15 counts of vehicle burglary– seven of those charges are from a previous incident.
The vehicle owner/burglary victim who shot the suspect is facing charges of simple kidnapping for taking the injured juvenile in his car to retrieve his stolen items before calling 911.
Another one of the suspects is being charged with at least one vehicle burglary from today and had stolen credit cards on his person from a previous theft that occurred on Feb. 18.
Charges are pending for the third suspect, but EBRSO added that all three teens have previously been arrested for breaking into cars.