Captured in Boutte after online sale
On New Year’s Eve, a Boutte man was arrested and charged with armed robbery after he allegedly made an online transaction and then met his intended victim to rob him at gunpoint.
Malik Lee, 18, of Boutte Estates Drive, is accused of contacting the man through Facebook to sell a GoPro Camera, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. Online, the two agreed on the sale and then to meet on Boutte Estates Drive to finalize the transaction.
Upon arrival, Lee, accompanied by several people, allegedly pointed a handgun at the man and demanded his money. The victim handed his wallet to Lee, who then fled the scene along with those who accompanied him.
Later this same day, police tracked Lee down near his residence and arrested him.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said Lee matched the Facebook profile that he used to lure his apparent victim.
Lee is being held at Nelson Coleman Correctional Center on $100,000 bond.
An arraignment hearing is scheduled Jan. 24. To avoid this type of encounter, the Sheriff’s Office established an Internet sale exchange location in the Sheriff’s training academy parking lot at 220 Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway in Luling. It offers a place where people can safely finalize transactions made by Internet.
At the entrance of the parking lot, there are two parking spaces designated as an Internet Exchange Location that are under 24-hour video surveillance.
The lot is intended to help limit the exchange of personal information or the potential dangers of meeting a stranger randomly. It provides an alternative that is public, monitored and accessible.
According to Yoes, “You don’t know who you’re meeting with when it comes to these things, and when that’s the case, there’s always the potential that something could go wrong.”
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