HARAHAN, La. (WGNO) — Harahan police are searching for a team of burglars who targeted half a dozen cars over the weekend.
Neighbors in Harahan are hoping their surveillance video will help solve the case.
“Two gentlemen get out. One is clearly holding a pistol in his right hand,” said a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous. “It’s an ungloved hand, but he does have a glove on the hand that he’s actually pulling the handles of my vehicle and my husband’s truck.”
Between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Sunday, surveillance footage from around the neighborhood shows the driver of a white Land Rover Discovery stop in front of multiple houses near Randolph Avenue before two passengers get out to burglarize vehicles.
“In the City of Harahan, we had six vehicles, so far, that have been involved with either an attempted auto theft of the vehicle or break-in of the vehicle,” said Harahan Police Chief Edward Lepre.
According to Lepre, later that same morning, the Land Rover reportedly crashed into a utility pole at the corner of Randolph and Fortier avenues.
Officers said they recovered the vehicle from where it was left, about a mile away in the 600 block of Hickory Avenue.
However, neighbors are still worried.
“But what’s scary is, I mean, my husband will get up and go to work sometimes at 4 a.m., and we don’t want to have a surprise visit from a perpetrator in our driveway, trying to break into our vehicle, you know, armed,” the neighbor said. “That’s very scary. I have small children who are now deathly afraid of a break-in at our home.”
Neighbors say vehicle burglaries aren’t typical for the area, and they have a message for the perpetrators.
“Harahan is a small-town community,” the neighbor said. “We’re already aware, you know, everybody’s talking, but I think, most importantly, whoever’s doing this needs to know not to come here because we’re not going to mess around.”
Anyone with information about the crimes or who can identify the suspects shown in the surveillance video can email Lt. David Darwin at david.darwin@harahanpd.com.
The investigation is ongoing.
