NEW ORLEANS — Four people who police believe may be connected to four carjackings and an attempted carjacking are now in custody. All five incidents happened in broad daylight in Uptown Saturday.
According to NOPD and Tulane Police, the incidents happened at the following locations: 1200 Adams St. (11:50 AM), 2200 Audubon St. (1:28 PM), 2814 Palmer St. (1:32 PM), 300 Audubon St. (4:20 PM) and 329 State St. (4:23 PM).
“It’s infuriating. It’s gotten so out of hand,” one victim said.
That victim was with his wife and two kids near Audubon Park around 4 p.m. when he realized one of his kids wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
“So I stopped the car and said, ‘Buckle up. We’re not going anywhere until you buckle up,” the victim, who didn’t want to be identified, said.
He pulled over so an SUV could pass.
“And they stop in the street right in front of us. I look up and it’s two black guys in ski masks out of the car with guns in their hands on either side of us, pointing one gun at me and one at my wife. Our kids were in the back seat crying,” he said. “I got out the car and started screaming, ‘There’s kids! There’s kids! There’s kids!”
The family jumped out of the car and started running away.
Ring Doorbell video captured the following moments. You can see the two suspects leave the victim’s car and run back to their SUV. The victim isn’t positive why they left his vehicle, but believes it may be because his kids were there or because his car is a manual transmission.
“I was confident he wasn’t going to be able to drive a stick shift anyway so I wasn’t really worried about him stealing the car. That was the last of my concerns. I was more focused on getting my son out of the back seat,” he said.
The family ran back to their car and sped off, hoping the men wouldn’t come back.
Just a few minutes later on State Street, a mother was picking up her 13-year-old daughter from a friend’s house.
“As she approached the car, the guy came up with a gun to the driver’s window and started yelling at me, ‘Get out, get out,” the woman said. “I was just, ‘Take it. Take it.”
She jumped out and said a man drove off in her car. It’s since been recovered.
“My vehicle had a tracking system so NOPD was able to talk to the dealership and they were able to track the car for two hours and located it behind University Hospital.”
She believes that’s what led New Orleans police to four people who were arrested Saturday night on unrelated charges. According to NOPD, the four people may be connected to the carjacking incidents in Uptown. They are in custody and investigators are working to bring additional charges related to the carjackings in the coming days. NOPD is withholding their identities until their involvement is confirmed.
“We all love our city. I’ve grown up here, I’m raising my children here and it’s got to stop. It’s got to stop,” the second victim said.
“Our seven-year-old got home and started barricading the door because he’s afraid of the robbers coming to get him, which is really sad, but that’s unfortunately where the city is right now,” the first victim said.
Both are thankful no one was hurt, but they are desperate for solutions.
“Obviously be aware of your surroundings, but there’s only so much you can do. I don’t know what the answer is,” the first victim said.
“Whatever they want, just give it to them. It’s not worth your life or your family member’s life,” the second victim said.