Three boys fleeing from police in an SUV that was stolen at gunpoint were arrested this week after the driver crashed into a tree, the New Orleans Police Department said.
Authorities said the juveniles crashed the white Volvo SUV in Mid-City Monday afternoon and then fled from police on foot before being apprehended shortly after by police. NOPD said it also confiscated a firearm investigators believe was used in the carjackings.
The arrests involve two vehicles — the white SUV and a black Mazda — stolen in recent days, authorities said. Three male suspects stole the Mazda at gunpoint at 12:55 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Freret and Soniat streets and fled in the vehicle, followed by the white SUV, which that had been reported stolen in an armed carjacking on Sunday.
At about 1 p.m., officers found both vehicles on Apricot Street. The suspects fled in the SUV, and officers requested to chase them. Restrictions the NOPD put in place under a federal consent decree imposed in 2012 prohibit officers from engaging in car chases in many instances. However, the agency does allow its officers to chase suspects in violent crimes, including armed carjackings.
The request for a chase was approved, and the pursuit ended with the boys' arrest at about 2 p.m. at Canal and South Salcedo streets in Mid-City. Police diverted downtown traffic on Canal Street outside Warren Easton Charter High School at that time.
The NOPD didn’t release the boys’ names because they are not adults. No injuries were reported, but the suspects went to a hospital as a precaution. They will be booked into the Juvenile Justice Center on charges related to two armed carjackings and the pursuit.
Police ask anyone with information about the carjackings to call NOPD Second District detectives at (504) 658-6020.
New Orleans police responded to a carjacking in the 1200 block of Harmony Street around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
