Cigarette, beer heist leads to Gray man’s arrest

A local man was arrested Saturday after he stole three cartons of cigarettes and a can of beer from a store, Houma Police reported.

Officers were called to the Houma Discount Store in east Houma at 7:08 a.m. in response to the theft, Lt. Todd Duplantis said.

The store clerk told officers that a man wearing a white T-shirt with a blue and yellow emblem receiving a crown with the words “Hustling King” and light blue pants had walked out of the store with the cigarettes and a 16 ounce can of Budweiser beer without paying for it, he said.

A short time later, the man returned, Duplantis said, and the clerk confronted him about the theft, which he denied.

The clerk was able to provide police with the license plate number of the 2002 Ford Taurus the suspect drove off in, Duplantis said.

Officers learned of a similar incident at a convenient store on Howard Avenue earlier in the day, Duplantis said. The suspect in that shoplifting case fit the same description, he said.

A BOLO, “be on the lookout,” was issued to all area law enforcement agencies, the spokesman said.

State Police spotted a car fitting the description partially in the road on Hwy. 311 and Mystic Boulevard, Duplantis said. The car had a flat tire.

When troopers approached, they found narcotics in the driver’s possession. Brandon L. Anderson, 21, of 511 Marietta Place, Gray, was arrested for narcotics violations, Duplantis said.

The troopers recognized the Taurus as the car being sought in the shoplifting cases and contacted Houma Police, he said.

Houma Police found several cartons of Kool cigarettes inside Anderson’s vehicle, Duplantis said, and a 16-ounce can of beer nearby the car.

Anderson was charged with two counts of theft regarding the two shoplifting investigations.