GRETNA, La. — The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office announced that 47-year-old William Frye was convicted as charged on Wednesday of two charges of simple robbery, carjacking and second-degree kidnapping stemming from an incident in 2022.
At the time of the crimes, Frye robbed a bank in Jefferson and then jumped into a car that was running with an 18-year-old woman in the backseat, and he then fled the scene with the woman still in the car he had just stolen.
Shortly after taking off, the woman jumped out of the back door of the car, breaking her pelvis upon hitting the pavement.
Investigators said they identified Frye as the suspect in both the bank robbery and the carjacking and he was later located at a motel in the 5700 block of Airline Drive. He was arrested after a short chase that included a helicopter search and Frye hitting a parked car before abandoning the stolen vehicle.
At the time, JPSO said Frye had previous arrests for two bank robberies in New Orleans in 2004 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for those incidents.
The jury, which was seated Tuesday and heard two days of testimony, deliberated 49 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts.
