Carjackers target women in Uptown neighborhoods near universities

via NOPD

(via NOPD)

Five carjackings and armed robberies occurred in quick succession Saturday afternoon (Jan. 15) in neighborhoods surrounding the universities, according to the New Orleans Police Department. All the victims in these crimes were female, police reports indicate.

On Sunday, police said that four suspects arrested in unrelated incidents late Saturday may be connected to crimes in the Second District. All of Saturday’s incidents occurred in the Second District.

The first carjacking occurred at about 11:50 a.m. in Carrollton. A woman in the 1200 block of Adams Street was approached by five men, who brandished a gun and forced her out of her car. All five got into the vehicle and drove off.

Just before 1:30 p.m., another woman was carjacked in Fontainebleau. Two men approached her on foot in the 2200 block of Audubon Street. One produced a gun and ordered her out her car. She complied, and the two fled in her car.

The vehicle was later recovered at Calhoun and South Johnson streets, near Yulman Stadium, and returned to the owner.

About five minutes after the Fontainbleau carjacking, another woman was carjacked a few blocks from Yulman Stadium. The 21-year-old was walking to her house in the 2800 block of Palmer Avenue when two men took her keys at gunpoint. They both jumped in her vehicle and fled down Palmer toward the river.

Two people were robbed at gunpoint a few hours later, at 4:19 p.m., in the 300 block of Audubon Street. Two men got out of a sport utility vehicle and approached the two victims. They took a woman’s cellphone and fled in the SUV, police said.

At 4:23 p.m., another woman was carjacked on State Street near Tchoupitoulas. When the carjacker ordered her out of her car at gunpoint, she threw her purse on the seat and exited the vehicle. He got in and drove down State toward the river.

Further details were not immediately available. Anyone with information is urged to call the NOPD Second District station at 504-658-6020 to speak to a detective, or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 to leave an anonymous tip that could be eligible for a cash reward.