SLIDELL, La. (WVUE) - Slidell Police arrested five teens believed to be connected to multiple gun store burglaries Monday morning following a high speed chase.
The teens, who are all from New Orleans, are believed to be a part of a larger group responsible for multiple burglaries, robberies and carjacking in St. Tammany Parish, Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish.
According to police, Slidell Police were dispatched to Paulie’s Pistols after the security alarm was triggered around 3 a.m. When they arrived at the scene, they found the glass front door of the business was shattered.
They later spotted a suspicious red Mercedes sedan in the area. When they attempted to pull the vehicle over, the vehicle fled and led officers on a high-speed chase across the Twin Span and into New Orleans.
During the pursuit, the suspects inside of the vehicle began throwing several guns out of the windows and on the side of the interstate.
A police officer waiting at the end of the Twin Span bridge deployed spikes and successfully ended the pursuit and all of the suspects were taken into custody.
Officers investigating the incident found that some of the guns were stolen in another gun store burglary at F.I.T.S Indoor Range on April 2.
The Slidell Police Department, ATF and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office has been investigating several other gun store thefts over the last two months that included another burglary at F.I.T.S Indoor Range on March 7 and Arms Merchant, LLC in Mandeville on March 29.
Those robberies remain under investigation.
Slidell PD believes the five teens arrested are a part of a larger ring of juvenile suspects in the New Orleans area. Earlier in April, Slidell Police arrested four teens from the New Orleans area who were also connected to string of burglaries, carjackings and stolen guns.
All of the teens have been booked into the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center.
Slidell Police Chief shared a warning for criminals looking to commit crimes in Slidell, “I’ve said it time and time again, and my stance hasn’t changed. If you come to the Northshore to commit a crime, you will be caught. I will not stand for it, nor will our citizens. We work hard to keep a safe community, and we aren’t going to allow these teenagers to come and plague our city. My message to anyone thinking about preying on our community is this…we will not stop at the parish or state line. We will pursue you until you are apprehended.”
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