Sheriff warns of scam attempts such as two on Thursday where people were called and told that a family member was being held for ransom; Also, S.O. arrests armed robber just after incident

Roosevelt Walker, 29, of Violet, booked with armed robbery in St. Bernard Parish

Sheriff James Pohlmann is warning St. Bernard Parish residents to be aware of scam attempts in light of two bizarre ones on Thursday in which different people were called and told a close family member was being held for ransom and they were instructed to wire money to an account.

“Both incidents turned out to be fake but they were unsettling to the would-be victims who received the calls,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. One number from a caller was traced to a phone number out of the country and both likely came from the same people, the sheriff said.

“We want people to know this is the type of scam that is carried out.”

Sheriff Pohlmann said people should be particularly alert for scam attempts in general during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season when criminals seem to attempt to more frauds, possibly believing victims are distracted by events that time of year.

Maj. Robert McNab, head of the sheriff’s detective division, said whenever “someone you don’t know calls and asks you to wire money for anything it’s most likely fraudulent,’’ with the money going to an overseas account.

In one incident early Thursday, a St. Bernard Parish woman was called on her cell phone and told by a man with an accent that a member of her family had been kidnapped, was being held at gunpoint and would be killede if she didn’t wire $1,000 to an account, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The woman, told not to hang up, became hysterical and got a neighbor to driver her to a bank that wasn’t open and she was going to wait until it opened, withdraw the money and send it, the sheriff said.

The neighbor called the Sheriff’s Office and when detectives went to the scene they were able to calm her and eventually the call was disconnected. Authorities were able to phone the family member allegedly being held hostage and learned he was at work and fine, the sheriff said.

In the other incident that happened about noon, the sheriff said, a Violet man was called and told a family member had been in an accident and now was being held, and a demand was made that money be sent.

In that incident, the man who was called said he was calling the Sheriff Office and hung up. That man shortly received a text message saying it all had been a joke.

In an unrelated incident in St. Bernard Parish, a Violet man was booked Wednesday evening, Dec. , with armed robbery of a Violet business on East St. Bernard Highway that happened earlier that day, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Roosevelt Walker, 29, 6535 Jules Brown Drive, was arrested at a residence after an investigation by sheriff’s detectives.

Walker admitted he carried out the robbery, wearing a hood over his head when he demanded money, the sheriff said. A surveillance video from the business showed a man using what appeared to be a stick or piece of wood as a weapon to threaten an employee into opening a cash register.

During an interview with detectives he acknowledged his guilt, saying he had bought narcotics with most of the money he received and said he needed help for his addiction, Sheriff Pohlmann said. He also turned over the remaining money that was stolen.

Walker is being held without bond in St. Bernard Parish Prison.