Authorities: Suspect arrested for attempted murder & armed robberies at multiple Dollar Generals
Lafayette Parish LA February 6 2019
Authorities have arrested a second suspect in connection with an attempted murder, that happened in the Alley 2 area of Broussard, on December 5 of last year.
21-year-old Joseph Jackson was arrested this past Saturday for attempted murder, along with a number of armed robberies and attempted armed robberies.
The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office confirms to News 10, that Jackson was arrested in connection with a rash of armed robberies at Dollar General Stores in the region.
Although at this time we don’t know the specific stores Jackson has targetted, the last armed robbery at a Dollar General KLFY reported on took place in Opelousas on Highway 182, almost 2 weeks ago.
We spoke with regular shoppers of the chain, on if they feel the stores can be an easy target
“I heard about it, and was kind of shocked because I’ve never felt unsafe,” said Paula Manuel, a frequent Dollar General shopper.
It’s unconfirmed at this time whether Jackson is the person connected to the crime at that specific Dollar General.
But raises the question: If various stores are being targeted in the region, what gives?
“Yeah because they only have 1 worker mainly working there at all times,” said Dezaree Duplechain, a shopper at the store.
“I shop here quite often to keep from going to tow. I’d rather shop at the Dollar Store,” said Paula Manuel.
She lives across the street from the store along Highway 182, and isn’t quite sure why criminals would want to target the chain store.
“Only thing I could see is maybe because they don’t think people frequent them that often, which I do. So I don’t know why they would think to target them, or maybe because at certain times of the night it’s pretty quiet,” said Manuel.
However, most people say they’ll still take their chances at shopping at the chain, regardless of the recent armed robberies at the stores.
“I’ll continue shopping wherever I want to shop, I’m not scared. It happen everywhere so,” said Duplechain.
We reached out to Dollar General’s Public Relations Department regarding safety of local stores.
They gave us a statement which reads: “At Dollar General, the safety of our customers and employees is a priority, and we employ a number of safety and security procedures to prevent, deter and, if necessary, respond to criminal activity in our stores. To protect the integrity of these measures, we do not comment on them specifically.
As this is an ongoing matter, we are referring all additional inquiries to local authorities as to not hinder their investigation.”
-Crystal Ghassemi
The investigation into the armed robberies is ongoing.
If you have info that can help investigators, contact the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office.
