A shoplifting in Slidell led to a car chase through Slidell, into New Orleans, and back to Slidell where the vehicle was disabled and a Houma man apprehended, police said. (Slidell Police Department photo)
A shoplifting in Slidell led to a car chase through Slidell, into New Orleans, and back to Slidell where the vehicle was disabled and a Houma man apprehended, police said. (Slidell Police Department photo)
A Houma man who police say was shoplifting from a Slidell sporting goods store led officers on a chase through Slidell, into New Orleans and then back into Slidell Monday night.
During the chase, the driver of the vehicle was seen tossing things out of the Nissan Altima’s window, the Slidell Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.
The driver, identified as Shawn LeBlanc, 51, crashed into a chain-link fence near the Slidell Municipal Airport before driving the Altima over spike strips, which deflated the vehicle’s front tires. LaBlanc was apprehended a short time later, police said.
Officers responded to a call of a shoplifter at around 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods. The officers were told that the suspect had fled the store in a white Nissan Altima. Police saw the vehicle being driven recklessly through the parking lot and pursued it.
The driver hopped on Interstate 10 toward New Orleans and drove into New Orleans East where he turned and headed back toward Slidell on I-10. He then got onto Interstate 12 and exited at Airport Road, driving toward the airport. That’s where the vehicle was finally disabled and the driver caught, police said.
State Police and St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputies were also involved in the chase, Slidell police said.
Police were able to recover the discarded items along the interstate, which they said had been stolen from Dick’s. Police also recovered a device they say is designed to defeat security sensors on retail products.
Police said that investigators think LeBlanc might be connected to a series of shoplifting incidents across Louisiana and Mississippi targeting “high-end sporting equipment from various retailers.”
LeBlanc was booked into the Slidell City Jail on numerous counts, including aggravated flight from an officer, hit and run, possession of burglary tools, theft by shoplifting and aggravated obstruction of a highway, police said.
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