A driver who led authorities on a chase that ended when he crashed outside an Old Metairie preschool did so with two toddlers and another child inside his stolen vehicle, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.
No one was injured, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson. Deputies arrested Isiah Theophile, 33, of New Orleans.
The pursuit began Thursday about 7:45 a.m. at the intersection of Causeway Boulevard and the South Interstate 10 Service Road in Metairie, where deputies spotted a black Ford F-150 pickup truck that had been reported stolen in New Orleans, Rivarde said.
Chase ends 1½ miles away
The driver refused to pull over and sped off. With him in the truck were two toddlers, a 13-year-old and the children's mother, whom authorities did not identify, Rivarde said.
The chase continued for about 1½ miles, until Theophile crashed into a fence at the Little Red Schoolhouse preschool, 2055 Metairie Road. He abandoned the truck and ran but was taken into custody after a short foot chase, Rivarde said.
Inside the vehicle, deputies recovered a gun, marijuana and cocaine, which had been hidden under the seat of one of the children, authorities said.
Child desertion
In addition to gun and drug charges, Theophile was booked with possession of stolen property, flight from an officer, two counts of child desertion, being a convicted felon in possession of a gun and three counts of hit-and-run driving, Rivarde said.
The child desertion charges stem from Theophile's criminal negligence in exposing the toddlers to a hazard or danger, Rivarde said.
Theophile was being held Friday at the parish jail. Bail was set at $434,000.
Thursday morning's pursuit occurred about 10 hours after another Metairie chase involving a stolen vehicle, during which a Sheriff's Office deputy shot at a suspect who authorities say was armed.
In that encounter, the deputy tried to pull over a stolen vehicle near North Arnoult Road and the South I-10 Service Road in Metairie on Wednesday at about 10 p.m., the Sheriff's Office said. The driver fled, crashing into another vehicle on the service road near Manson Avenue.
The driver and a passenger got out of the wrecked car, both armed with pistols. One of the responding deputies "perceived a threat" and shot at one of the suspects, the Sheriff's Office said.
Both suspects managed to escape, although investigators think that one of them might have been injured. Authorities can't say whether the injury was from the crash or the deputy's bullet.
No one had been arrested in connection with that chase as of Friday morning, Rivarde said.
Anyone with information about the suspects from the North Arnoult Road chase and crash was asked to call the Sheriff's Office investigations bureau at (504) 364-5300 or Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans Inc. at (504) 822-1111 or (877) 903-7867. Crimestoppers callers need not give their names or testify to be eligible for a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an indictment.