NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a 14-year-old is in custody following a spree of crimes involving armed robbery, assault, and two car thefts.
The first incident was reported on Nov. 24. New Orleans police say the teen held someone at gunpoint in the 600 block of St. Ann St. in the French Quarter while 23-year-old Joseph Ruffin stole a wallet and other personal items.
Ruffin was later arrested for the crime, police say.
Later that same day, police say the 14-year-old followed a woman into a parking garage in the 900 block of Girod Street. He then allegedly implied that he had a handgun by holding his hand in a jacket pocket and demanding her property. The victim surrendered her keys and purse and the teen drove off in her car.
On Dec. 4, a 78-year-old woman said she was walking in a parking garage in the 400 block of O’Keefe Ave. in the CBD when she noticed the teen following her. The woman said she was able to get into her vehicle and drive off before interacting with him.
Investigators say the 14-year-old entered a stairwell, encountered another woman before grabbing her hair and demanding her keys. Police say he then assaulted the woman, pushing her before kicking her as she laid on the ground.
When he exited the stairwell, police say he saw the 78-year-old woman standing outside her car trying to pay to get out of the lot. Investigators say he then pulled her away from her car before driving off in the vehicle, breaking the garage lot’s control arm as he drove off.
Police later found the teen and the woman’s car at a motel in the NOPD’s seventh district. Police say he still had the keys to the woman’s car with him when he was arrested.
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