ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — A Tennessee man was arrested after he allegedly burglarized several Northshore restaurants over the weekend and then led St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies on a chase Saturday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office says between 10:30 p.m. Friday night and 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, 23-year-old Malik Morris of Memphis Tennessee burglarized four restaurants in Covington.
Slidell Police said Morris is believed to be the same suspect in two other restaurant burglaries that happened over the weekend in Slidell.
Surveillance video Eyewitness News obtained from business owners shows a man wearing a ski mask stealing hundreds of dollars in cash from Golden Dragon in Slidell and Panda Buffet in Covington early Saturday morning.
Haiku is a few doors down from Panda Buffet and was also hit, the manager said.
Employees at Misaki in Covington and a Mexican restaurant off of Hwy 190 said the suspect got away with cash and alcohol.
The surveillance video from Golden Dragon shows the man leaving in a white box truck.
Investigators say they believe Morris used a white box truck during those burglaries.
“At approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday, an alert deputy with STPSO’s 4th Patrol District observed a box truck matching the description of the one used in the burglaries being driven on Collins Boulevard in Covington,” a sheriff’s office report says.
The report says a deputy later conducted a traffic stop on Morris, but he did not comply and instead fled southbound on U.S. Highway 190, crossing the median several times, driving against traffic at times, and hitting five vehicles, before heading westbound on Interstate 12.
They say he then exited the Interstate at Pinnacle Parkway, abandoned the box truck behind a business, and fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood.
Following a brief foot pursuit, Morris was taken into custody.
In addition to this weekend's burglaries, investigators say Morris was also tied to another restaurant burglary that occurred in St. Tammany back in June.
Morris faces 20 charges which include simple burglary, and vehicular negligent injuring.
The occupants from three of the vehicles hit during the chase were taken to the hospital, but we don't know the extent of their injuries.
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