Man arrested in T.J. Maxx armed robbery where security officers were held at gunpoint
New Orleans LA April 4 2018 A 38-year-old man is accused of holding two employees at gunpoint after they attempted to stop him shoplifting from the T.J. Maxx on Claiborne Avenue Friday (March 30), according to New Orleans police.
According to his arrest warrant, Earl Payton walked into the store at 11:50 a.m. Friday and started filling up a shopping basket with Michael Kors and Coach shoes. Employees at the store were suspicious of Payton, the warrant states, and followed him as he tried to flee the store through the emergency exit in the back.
Two managers chased Payton out of the store and caught up to him when Payton ran into a guardrail outside. According to the warrant, one of the managers knocked the stolen merchandise out of Payton’s hands. When the managers tried to pick up the shoes from the ground, Payton pulled out a semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and said “Don’t touch me. This is my stuff,” the warrant states.
Two other employees came outside after Payton pulled the gun, but went back inside when he told them to “get back,” according to the warrant. Payton then fled the scene on foot with the stolen shoes, the warrant states.
According to the warrant, a security guard from the Shoe Carnival in the same shopping plaza said Payton had been shoplifting from the shoe store for the past two weeks.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, NOPD detective Michael Cure said he saw a man matching Payton’s description in the 2800 block of Josephine Street. When Cure tried to stop him, Payton attempted to flee, and Cure said he saw him take a gun from his waistband and throw it into a bush.
Payton was apprehended by police after they surrounded him in the 2900 block of Josephine Street, according to the warrant. When Cure found the gun Payton dumped in the bushes, he said it matched the description of the weapon used during the T.J. Maxx armed robbery.
T.J. Maxx spokesman Andrew Mastrangelo said the company declined to comment Tuesday, but stated they care about their associates “deeply,” are a relieved no one was injured during the incident.
Jean Rapp, 38, is wanted by police in the early Friday (March 30) robbery in the 5700 block of Norland Avenue, police said.
Payton was booked into Orleans Justice Center jail Monday on four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count each of armed robbery, illegal carrying of weapons, illegal possession of a stolen firearm and resisting an officer, according to online court records. He appeared in court Monday where Orleans Parish Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set his bond for a total of $130,000 and assigned a public defender to his case, court records show.
According to online court records, Payton has faced at least six theft-related charges in Orleans Parish from 1998 to 2013.
