Reward offered in Patterson Easter Sunday robbery

The Patterson Police Department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the Easter Sunday armed robbery of a convenience store on U.S. 90, Police Chief Patrick LaSalle said in a press release.
"This armed and dangerous criminal must be removed from our streets," LaSalle said. He said communication with police on the issue "will be held in strict confidentiality."
Anyone with information on the robbery are asked to call Patterson police at 985-395-6161.
Police are working on leads regarding the Exxon station robbery, but the investigation has run into a "brick wall" as the clerk and a person of interest retained an attorney, LaSalle said. He would not reveal the person of interest or what impediments investigators have encountered, saying to do so would compromise the case.
LaSalle said investigators were told that about $630 was stolen, "but now I am wondering how much money was stolen."
The robbery and its escape were well planned, LaSalle said. LaSalle suspects there was a pickup nearby or the robber "took refuge in a nearby home or facility."
Video surveillance shows an officer arriving at the scene within a few minutes of the robber leaving the store. LaSalle said the first officer on scene arrived two minutes after dispatch received the call. The dispatcher was still on the phone with the store clerk when the officer arrived, he said.
Within minutes of the first officer arriving on the scene, an investigator and another police officer are seen on the video. They had been asked to respond to the scene by cellphone messages and arrived in their unmarked personal vehicles, LaSalle said.
LaSalle said because of the danger involved in an armed robbery, those other two officers rushed to the scene and did not go to the station to retrieve city police units or their bulletproof vests.
"When the safety of the citizens is involved or the safety of a fellow officer, Patterson police will not hesitate to respond, even if it means doing so in their personal vehicles," LaSalle said.
The surveillance cameras show the robber entered the store, empty except for the clerk, from the west side wearing a mask, clothing and gloves concealing all of his body. He can be seen on the video dropping his loot at the door and bending down for several seconds to pick it back up, dropping cash a second time and retrieving it. He eventually walked out the door, heading west.
LaSalle said he was disturbed to discover his dispatcher failed to "adequately notify surrounding agencies fast enough to my satisfaction and appropriate action has been taken to ensure that will not happen again."
"Other agencies need to be in the loop when something like this happens here or anywhere else in the parish. I take this matter very seriously because the public safety is at risk," LaSalle said.