LAFAYETTE, La. (Dec 19, 2023, 10:58 p.m.) – On the evening of December 19, 2023, at approximately 7:15 P.M., a Lafayette Police Officer was patrolling in the 100 block Happiness Street, when a female complainant contacted the officer. The female advised the officer that her vehicle had just been stolen while parked and running in front of a residence on Happiness Street. The female complainant further explained that her juvenile daughter had been asleep in the rear of the vehicle, hence why the vehicle was left running. The female complainant momentarily entered a residence on Happiness Street, where an unknown male suspect entered the running vehicle and immediately fled the scene with the female juvenile still asleep inside.
Lafayette Police Officers immediately began a canvass search throughout the area and implemented emergency protocols requesting assistance and resources from the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. During this collaborative effort, all Lafayette Police Department resources were deployed to the area to locate and safely recover the juvenile female.
Lafayette Police Dispatch, via 911, received a phone call shortly before 7:53 p.m. about a suspicious vehicle running but parked on the parking lot of the Landmark Church (1600 block West Willow Street). Lafayette Police Officers immediately responded to the Landmark Church, where they located, and confirmed that the vehicle in question was, in fact, the stolen vehicle from Happiness Street. Officers found the juvenile female still asleep in the rear of the vehicle and were able to safely remove her and secure her until she could be reunited with her family. It was determined that the juvenile female was unharmed and later released to her family’s custody.
The suspect was unable to be located or identified, however, this investigation is still ongoing.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Lafayette Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at (337) 232-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous.
