NEW ORLEANS — On Wednesday, District Attorney Jason Williams announced the arrest and indictment of four people he said have been “wreaking havoc” on the city of New Orleans with a number of violent crimes.
Four individuals have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery with a firearm and 11 counts of armed robbery.
Each count against the subjects holds 15 to 99 years of jail sentence.
Williams said that on Jan. 15 the four went on an armed robbery crime spree, committing eight armed robberies by stealing vehicles and terrorizing 11 victims and families across the city, targeting neighborhoods such as Uptown, New Orleans East and Gentilly.
Some of the individuals were previously arrested, but out on bond according to Williams.
“We will use the mountain of evidence we’ve secured in the month of January to push judges to detain these individuals in higher bonds, where they will have to wait in jail to await their court dates and not have a chance to get back out to commit more crimes,” Williams said.
He said the recent arrest adds to the 67 grand jury indictments in 2021.
“Today's indictment was proof positive that joint strategic task force works,” Williams said.
Williams presented his 7-point strategy to the New Orleans City Council Monday, outlining his office's work to keep violent offenders at bay by charging carjackings as armed robberies to increase sentences and highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships.
“My team at the DA’s office and the dedicated detectives working with them are doing everything they can, to make strategic cases against the people that are wreaking havoc," Williams said.
President Biden's Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond will be in town Saturday to discuss a strategy to push back at the surge in violent crime in almost every urban city.
“There is in fact a clear and present danger to the people of this community. There is a crime surge but the people of New Orleans can know that we are surging back and today four violent offenders are off the street and we will do everything in our power to keep them off.”