Three men taken into custudy by LSU Police Department officers Thursday night have been released after an investigation disproved their involvement with the Feb. 9 armed robbery on campus, leaving the robbery’s investigation ongoing with no new developments.
LSUPD and Baton Rouge Police Department officers swarmed the Wal-Mart Neighborhood parking lot on Highland Road late Thursday night in pursuit of three men in a “follow-up investigation to the most recent armed robbery on campus,” according to University officials.
“Officers went and obtained the suspects, searched their vehicle and after interviewing them and determining their whereabouts on Friday night and Saturday morning, it apears they were both at work,” Rabalais said. “It is not going to be the suspects we are looking for.”
Rabalais said one of the victims of the Feb. 9 armed robbery was at the store and reported to LSUPD seeing a vehicle she believed to be involved in the robbery.
Rabalais said apart from this incident, no developments or leads have been made in the robbery’s investigation. He said no arrests were made during the incident Wednesday night and no arrests regarding the robbery have been made.
Rabalais said when officers responded to the scene one man, who was inside the vehicle, was taken into custody. A second man working at the store was also taken into custody. A third man was taken into custody by LSUPD, but Rabalais said he is unsure of the man’s connection.
Laura Boeke, assistant manager at the store, told The Daily Reveille that when she came out of the store, the car in question was surrounded by police. Witnesses said police officers drew their guns while surrounding the vehicle. The store is located about two miles from campus.
Eyewitnesses at the scene saw three people handcuffed and placed into three separate LSUPD vehicles. LSUPD said no arrests were made.
The car on the scene was a late-1990s model, light blue Chrysler New Yorker.
The incident started around 10:20 p.m. The last man of the three was taken from the scene at 11:32 p.m.
At least five BRPD vehicles were on the scene as were seven LSUPD cars. About 12 officers were on the scene.
The most recent armed robbery on campus occurred around 3:30 a.m. Feb. 9 when three college-aged people were held at gunpoint on campus.
Two females and a male were walking across a parking lot by the hill behind Broussard Hall near the intersection of Chimes Street and Cypress Drive when they were approached by a young male wearing a bandana who robbed the three victims at gunpoint, said LSU Police Department spokeswoman Maj. Helen Haire.
Of the three victims, the male and one of the females are University students, Haire said.
Haire said the suspect then left the scene in a waiting vehicle that fled down Alaska and Chimes streets toward Nicholson Drive.
LSUPD said Cypress Street turns into Alaska street near the softball field on the north side of campus.
Haire said the male victim ran after the fleeing vehicle until the vehicle stopped and a shot was fired toward the victims. No injures have been reported, Haire said.
Haire said the victims described the robber’s gun as a rifle.
The victims described the vehicle as a four-door, gray or silver Chrysler sedan.
Hair said the suspect is a male about 5 feet 3 inches tall, and it is unclear if the suspect was juvenile, although he did appear to be young.
The Feb. 9 armed robbery marked the third on-campus armed robbery since the Dec. 13 double homicide at the on-campus Edward Gay Apartments.
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected].