Police chase turns up stolen goods

The driver of a red Mercury Grand Marquis caught Houma Police Officer Jeffery Lirette’s attention as early Friday.

Around 4:30 a.m., the car disobeyed a stop sign near Barataria Boulevard, causing Lirette to give chase, said Lt. Todd Duplantis, Houma Police spokesman.

The Mercury turned down La. 182 toward Coteau Road, Duplantis said. When Lirette n who ended the chase when the car made the turn n caught up to the Mercury, the car was stopped off the roadway and the driver had fled the scene.

Lirette learned that the license plate on the Mercury had been switched, and that the car had been reported stolen in St. Charles Parish in December 2006, Duplantis said.

Inside the car, the officer found property stolen in a burglary at the Shoe Connection. Police learned of the burglary when the store’s alarm went off at 4 a.m. that morning, the spokesman said.

The stolen property was returned to the storeowner, Duplantis said.

Police are still searching for the driver of the car, who was last seen running on Ida Street off of La. 316 in Lafourche Parish, he said.