WEST BATON ROUGE — Four teenagers have been arrested after 12 vehicle burglaries in West Baton Rouge neighborhoods Wednesday night into Thursday early morning, August 21. Multiple residents between Rosedale Road and U.S. 190 woke up to find their vehicles and outdoor items had been burglarized overnight.
Deputies recovered 15 guns, money, a laptop, a passport, and other personal belongings that were allegedly stolen from unlocked vehicles.
Detectives tracked one suspect to Lafayette Parish, 17-year-old Samaya Charles. A search of Charles’ home and vehicle led deputies to a gun stolen from West Baton Rouge. Detectives also found clothing and masks, which they say were consistent with video surveillance from the burglaries.
Charles was transported to the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center and booked on the following charges:
- 10 counts – Principal to Aggravated Burglary
- 2 counts – Principal to Simple Burglary
- 1 count – Obstruction of Justice
Early Saturday morning, detectives executed a warrant in Breaux Bridge and arrested three more teenagers.
• Quaylon Mouton (17): 10 counts – Aggravated Burglary; 2 counts – Simple Burglary. Booked into the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center
• Juvenile (16): 10 counts – Aggravated Burglary; 2 counts – Simple Burglary. Booked into a Juvenile Detention Facility
• Juvenile (15): 10 counts – Aggravated Burglary; 2 counts – Simple Burglary
Due to their ages, the names of two of the juveniles cannot be released.
Officials recovered 10 more guns. Of the 10, WBRSO says three were reported stolen: one from Vermilion Parish, one from St. Martin Parish, and one from West Baton Rouge Parish, which had been stolen the night before.
“We cannot stress this enough-all of these burglaries involved unlocked vehicles. Please, lock your vehicles and secure your homes. One small action can stop a crime of opportunity,” said WBRSO Sheriff Jeff Bergeron.
“We’re all scared. We don’t feel safe” | Victim speaks out
One West Baton Rouge resident in the Rosedale Road and Poydras Bayou Road area spoke to UWK about her family’s experience as a victim of the burglaries. She asked to remain anonymous.
It was around 3 a.m. Thursday morning when multiple individuals broke into her family’s vehicles, she said. While the family didn’t wake up during the break-ins, they noticed the aftermath first thing when they went outside.
“We went out that morning to let the dogs out, and they’d left all the truck doors open,” she told UWK. “And so we were like, ‘Okay, that’s not normal.’ So we called all of the neighbors; we all have cameras. So we all pulled cameras and then went to the vehicles, and you could tell they had gone through them.”
The burglary at her house had occurred just feet away from her daughter’s bedroom window, the woman said.
“They took that sense of peace and safety from my child in the one place she’s supposed to feel safe. She’s sleeping on my floor now,” she said.
Some of the burglarized vehicles in the neighborhood were locked and some were unlocked. Cash and guns were the primary items stolen, she added.
“We’re all scared. We don’t feel safe,” the woman said. “We’ve all lived there for 15 to 20 years and have never felt unsafe. I couldn’t sleep last night. I watched my cameras all night.”
Another neighbor also provided footage of at least two men checking out their car under their carport around 3:15 a.m. Thursday. One person can be seen attempting to open the driver’s door and then peering inside the vehicle before he turns away.
The woman who spoke with UWK added that she now feels violated, having seen the footage of the burglars in her family’s vehicles and knowing that they were touching the same areas.
“We can’t unsee the video,” she said.
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