Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
KENNER, La. (WGNO) — A 19-year-old was arrested following a police chase in Kenner on Wednesday, May 22.
According to Kenner police, they received a call from a concerned citizen at 3:45 a.m. reporting someone was in the back ally of an apartment complex in the 600 block of Vouray Drive, allegedly burglarizing vehicles.
Several Kenner neighborhoods woke up to the sound of a high-speed police chase. Police say it all started when they responded to a call about two people pulling on car door handles.
“Within seconds, officers arrived on scene with the description the caller and observed the vehicle leaving the back alley, when officers initiated a traffic stop the vehicle accelerated, and there was a vehicle pursuit. The vehicle ended up crashing into a canal,” said Kenner Police Department Captain Michael Cunningham.
Detectives say 19-year-old New Orleans resident Jaden Boyer was the driver, and his 17-year-old girlfriend was in the passenger seat of a stolen car. Also, a gun and illegal drugs were allegedly found inside the car.
“We also identified three vehicle burglaries at another apartment complex that are going to be directly linked to this. We have some evidence in the vehicle that is going to be linked to those,” said Cunningham.
Further investigation revealed the vehicle was allegedly stolen out of New Orleans.
Kenner police say although the girlfriend has not been charged yet, they are not ruling it out.
“We have seen some burglaries. We did see an increase in vehicle burglaries of smashed windows. Some of those burglaries occurred where the girlfriend lives and we did find burglary tools in the vehicle that could be used to smash windows with,” said Cunningham.
He also says this case is another example of a disturbing trend with the suspects getting younger and younger.
“The majority of our vehicle burglaries are juveniles. We have arrested juveniles as young as 12 years old committing burglaries and stealing vehicles,” said Cunningham.
Boyer faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, three counts of simple burglary, handgun in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of marijuana.
The 17-year-old girl has not been charged.
The investigation remains ongoing as more arrests and charges are expected.
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