Three 18-year-old have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery investigation in Vermilion Parish.
According to Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a complaint of an armed robbery which occurred on the night of Friday, April 16, 2021.
According to the victim, the armed robbery was a result of the victim using social media in an attempt to trade a long gun for a different type of long gun. In that trade, deputies say, the buyer communicated with the seller and arranged a time and place to meet. Allegedly, the result was the buyer, identified as the suspects in this case, holding the seller at gunpoint and robbing the seller of the long gun.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects in the case as 18-year-old Kenan Michael Willis, 18-year-old Dequan Trevelle Turner, and 18-year-old Latrell Dion Ashley. All three are from Abbeville.
With the help of Abbeville Police the suspects were located within the city limits of Abbeville on April 18, 2021 and taken into custody without incident.
Upon arrest, a search was conducted where two firearms and suspected illegal narcotics were located.
All three have been booked into the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center on warrants for Armed Robbery.
The investigation is still ongoing and additional charges are pending.
According to VPSO, this type of robbery is a "case in point of the potential dangers of using social media to sell or trade firearms that often requires meeting with people you do not know." The sheriff's office recommends the use of a registered firearms dealer to buy and sell firearms, thereby avoiding these dangers and staying safe.
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