Armed robbery suspect arrested in Lake Charles; was wanted in three parishes

Law enforcement agencies in several parishes cooperated to arrest a Paradis man Friday who has since been charged with one count each of armed robbery and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Brandon P. Washington, 34, 14773 Old Spanish Trail, appeared before 18th Judicial District Court Judge Elizabeth Engolio, who set his bond at $200,000 for the armed robbery charge and an additional $20,000 for the possession of a firearm charge.

Washington is suspected of having committed three armed robberies in three parishes since Tuesday night. He was arrested in Lake Charles.

A press conference was held Monday afternoon after his court appearance.

"Collectively, we worked together to solve this case," said Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi, listing as cooperating agencies the Gonzales Police Department, the St. John the Baptist Sheriff's Office, the Lake Charles Police Department and the Louisiana Department of Probation and Parole.

"All of these individuals helped to bring this case to a close," Stassi said, using "good hard police work."

Detectives with the involved agencies went through "thousands and thousands" of images captured by surveillance cameras and finally one revealed a partial plate number which was then used to narrow the search down to Washington's vehicle.

Stassi described the armed robberies Washington is believed to have committed in a press conference last Wednesday.

“We have a man who made his way down the I-10 corridor beginning around 10:30 p.m. last night,” said in that Wednesday press conference. “He hit the Chevron Marathon Truck Stop in St. John the Baptist Parish,”

“He’s driving a silver Dodge Charger, four-door, with a hood scoop and a rear spoiler, black rims,” Stassi said. “We’re looking for the public’s helping in trying to identify this man.

After hitting the truck stop in St. John, “he moved on to the Cabello’s Super Mart at the Marathon Truck Stop in the city of Gonzales around 1:05 a.m., where he did the same thing.”

“He produced a gun and robbed the cashier of some money from the register,” Stassi said. “Later on that night, around 3:20 a.m., he hit the Maringouin Shell Station in Grosse Tete where he took the money from the lady at the register and fled.”

The three incidents occurred over a five-hour period between late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. “This guy walks in with no mask, he’s in the store a very short time and then tries to buy something and once the register opens, he makes his move,” he continued.

“We’re working together with Sheriff Mike Tregue, Sheriff Jeff Wiley along with the Gonzales Police Department to apprehend this suspect,” Stassi said.