Remembering Betty White: Carnival and children reigned supreme for jeweler
December 23, 2014
Story to Tell: Nicholls archivist retells Lafourche Parish’s history with photos
December 23, 2014
Acquaintances and relatives of a 24-year-old Bourg man facing criminal charges for allegedly robbing a family living near him Sunday at gunpoint say they cannot comprehend why he would attempt such a crime.
But after Josiah Armstrong was picked up by Terrebonne Parish deputies at his home on La. Highway 24 Monday he allegedly told them that “he lost his job and needed money for Christmas.”
Word of a police hunt for a man who had committed a brazen crime in broad daylight caused concern for people living along Bayou Terrebonne from Bourg to Montegut. Some confided to neighbors that they were afraid to leave their houses.
An anonymous tip, Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said, resulted in the arrest, and he expressed thanks to the public “for getting involved and helping solve this horrendous crime and keeping our community safe.”
The saga began at around 10 a.m. Sunday when the sheriff’s office received a report of an armed robbery on the 4200 block of Country Drive.
A woman who lived there told deputies that a man approached her outside of her home, armed with a handgun. When he saw her he demanded the keys to her car.
As he tried to flee, the woman screamed for help and her husband emerged from their home and fired multiple shots as the man attempted to flee in the auto, a silver Ford.
The suspect was believed to have suffered a gunshot wound; the victim and her husband were not injured.
According to Larpenter, the suspect drove the car over the St. Ann Bridge and headed south on La. Highway 24, then abandoned the vehicle, with one of its driver’s side rear windows shot out, on a knoll between the highway and Bayou Terrebonne.
Larpenter said Armstrong then walked a short distance to the converted apartment house where he lived with his wife, the former Allison Hebert, and their toddler son.
Deputies searched throughout Sunday and into Monday for a man described as 6 feet tall with a gray sweatshirt and jeans, who was later identified as Armstrong.
Detectives received a call Monday morning from a tipster, who said that the man who committed the robbery lived in Bourg, and who then provided a description of where he lived.
The caller also said that the man had sustained a recent head injury.
“Detectives followed this information that led them to the suspects’ address, 4430 La. Highway 24,” Larpenter said.
During questioning, Larpenter said, Armstrong admitted to the robbery and to being shot in the head while “while attempting to flee the scene in the victim’s vehicle.”
Acadian Ambulance was called to the sheriff’s office and Armstrong was checked. He was then taken to the Terrebonne Parish jail where he was booked for armed robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment, aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.
As of press time, a bond had not been set. Larpenter said Armstrong does not have a criminal record.
Neighbors were baffled by the news of the arrest of Armstrong, who worked as a pipefitter and whose Facebook page is rife with religious references and pictures of his son and wife.
“He is a sweet kid,” said Steve Aucoin, a neighbor who said he occasionally spoke with Armstrong. “Never knew him to have a problem with drugs, never knew him to be any trouble.”
“The only thing I can tell you is that does not sound like my son,” said John Armstrong, the suspect’s father. “That’s just not his character. He has a good job.”
Search warrants were executed at Armstrong’s home Monday afternoon as his wife cried outside.
Detectives did not disclose what they were searching for.
A neighbor, Chuck Robertson, said he had recently observed Armstrong shooting at a can mounted on a stick on the bayouside behind his home, and that he frequently saw Armstrong wearing a semi-automatic pistol on his belt.
“He thought he was Wyatt Earp or something,” Robertson said. “In recent weeks, I’d hear the pop-pop-pop.”
Exposed carrying of a pistol is allowed for most people in Louisiana.
Law enforcement officials said Monday they were not aware of any connection between Armstrong and the family that was victimized.
As word spread through Bourg and neighboring Montegut Sunday that a robbery had committed and that police were seeking a suspect, even more words spread on social media.
Concerns amplified when a man was seen walking on Price Street in Montegut with a head wound. Deputies responded but the man was determined unconnected to the robbery. His wounds were sustained in a fight with another man earlier in the afternoon.
“In small places you don’t have good communication about what is going on,” said Laura Browning, a Montegut resident who acknowledges that she herself was apprehensive and exercised greater caution than usual. “There are a lot of people who are elderly, who live alone, single parents, and it’s the whole idea of not knowing.”
