Two 15-year-old boys booked with burglarizing a truck in Chalmette after the owner saw one inside the vehicle and caught the other on his lawn; deputies quickly found the first one who had fled

A Chalmette resident saw one 15-year-old male inside his truck and caught a second 15-year-old in his front yard as deputies quickly found and arrested the first one who had fled, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The incident happened on Pakenham Drive the night of July 15 and both boys were booked into the parish Juvenile Detention Center. One lives in Chalmette and the other was from St. Amant.

The owner of the truck said he saw one boy inside the vehicle after 11 p.m., went outside to confront him but the juvenile fled. The owner said he then saw a second boy in his front yard, apparently acting as a lookout, and he prevented him from leaving until sheriff’s deputies arrived.

The boy who fled dropped a purse he had taken from the vehicle as he ran from the scene, Sheriff Pohlmann said. That boy was quickly found after the owner gave a description of what he was wearing.

The owner identified the boy arrested by deputies as the one who had been inside his vehicle, the sheriff said.

The vehicle involved had been left unlocked. Sheriff Pohlmann recommends residents lock their vehicles when they aren’t in use because the great majority of such burglaries in St. Bernard Parish happen when they are left unlocked.