Two N.O. men with criminal records booked with armed robbery of a Chalmette store; Search of getaway car reveals money and search of their home turns up a fake pistol, knife, masks and gloves

Demar Jackson, booked with armed robbery.

Ronnie Morgan, booked with armed robbery of a store in Chalmette

Two New Orleans men with lengthy criminal records, including one who served 11 years in federal prison for bank robbery, were booked with the armed robbery of a Chalmette store in which Sheriff James Pohlmann said they terrorized employees with what turned out to be a realistic-looking black toy gun, as well as a kitchen knife.

No one was injured in the robbery which happened Wednesday night just before a Family Dollar store in Chalmette was closing.

The two men arrested for armed robbery, Ronnie Morgan, 35, and Demar Jackson, 23, who lived together on St. Roch Avenue in New Orleans, are possible suspects in similar recent robberies in the New Orleans area, the sheriff said.

Information received about the getaway vehicle used, a 1996 white Chrysler, led to where the suspects lived, the sheriff said. Deputies with the Special Investigations Division spotted the car on Paris Road on Thursday night, with Morgan inside, along with the mother of his child, who lives in Chalmette, and a second woman, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

A search of the getaway car Thursday night turned up sleeves of change believed taken from the store, Sheriff Pohlmann said. And in a search of the suspects’ house on St. Roch Avenue a black fake handgun, a knife, two masks, a set of gloves, a hammer and duct tape were all found together in a bag, he said, and more money was recovered in the house.

A rifle was located under the house. Another set of gloves believed used by the robbers were found near the store.

“Detectives described it as a robbery kit,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said of the items found in the plastic bag.

“It was great police work all around,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said of the investigation that led to the arrests in less than a day, including extensive help from New Orleans police involved in the case.

Morgan, who in December was released from a half-way house after 11 years in federal prison for a bank robbery, had about $300 on him when found in the car.

Morgan and Jackson, who is on parole from a robbery conviction in Jefferson Parish and was arrested in New Orleans, are both booked with armed robbery of the store. They are being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison, being held in lieu of a bond set at $750,000 each on Friday by state Dist. Judge Jacques Sanborn.

Jackson’s sister is the Chalmette woman who is the mother of Morgan’s child, authorities said.

Sheriff’s detectives worked the case most of the night Thursday, with the help of New Orleans police who obtained search warrants for the house in the city and and a warrant for Jackson’s arrest, said Sheriff Pohlmann.

The getaway car was registered to a man who lived with Morgan and Jackson but he hasn’t been tied to the robbery, authorities said.