Headline-Catching Armed Robberies Across Acadiana in 2022

Of the crimes that have headlined 2022, armed robberies have been among the most prevalent. They have especially been on the rise since the lockdowns implemented during the COVID pandemic have been lifted.

Armed robberies - as they become more prevalent in a community - steal peace from the citizens who live there. These crimes may start out as a thief trying to steal from the victim but many times that thief turns into a murderer when that weapon is actually used.

Armed robbery is a very serious offense with very serious consequences. According to  LA R.S. 14:64, the punishment for a conviction is "imprison(ment) at hard labor for not less than ten years and for not more than ninety-nine years, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence."

According to championsforjustice.com, there are 6 main factors that help to determine the severity of the charge:

• Whether you have any prior criminal history
• Whether you have any prior violent crime offenses
• The type of weapon used in the alleged crime
• Whether anyone sustained any injuries in the course of the robbery
• The severity of those injuries
• The value of property stolen

Louisiana has a robbery problem and a violent crime problem. According to information at 247wallst.com, the state's last ranking (based on data from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report) had us at 12th in the nation. Here are the statistics:

• Robberies per 100k people:: 80.7
• Number of robberies: 3,747 (20th highest)
• Violent crimes per 100k people: 639.4 (5th highest)
• Poverty rate: 19.0% (2nd highest)
• Population within reporting jurisdiction: 4,645,318 (25th highest)

That is not a good mix.

Let's take a look at headline-catching cases involving armed robberies in Acadiana in 2022.