A Lafayette man has been booked in connection with two daytime burglaries in Vermilion Parish.
Vermilion Parish Sheriff's deputies were called to investigate two separate burglaries on January 19. The doors of the homes had been kicked in, and items in the houses were stolen, including jewelry, said Sheriff Michael Couvillon.
The Vermilion Parish Criminal Investigations Division continued the investigation and quickly learned that the two incidents were committed by the same subject(s).
Through further investigation detectives identified Rashawn Sterling of Lafayette as a suspect in the burglaries, and obtained an arrest warrant for him.
With the assistance of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Sterling was located in the Maurice Area in Lafayette Parish. LPSO attempted a traffic stop on Sterling, but he allegedly fled from the stop at high rates of speed. Due to the level of danger the flight was causing, the pursuit was called off in the interest of public safety.
Detectives were able to obtain a search warrant for Sterling’s Lafayette home, and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office’s S.W.A.T. team assisted the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office in the execution of that search warrant.
During that search warrant, Sterling was taken into custody without incident. While executing the warrant, investigators allegedly found jewelry believed to belong to victim(s) of the burglaries.
Sterling was arrested on charges related to the chase, and also on the warrants. He was booked in Vermilion Parish on the warrants, which accuse him of two counts simple burglary.
The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are possible.
Sheriff Couvillon said he would like to thank the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office for their assistance for this matter and others.
