6 arrested, 1 wanted by West Baton Rouge deputies in car theft investigation

Michael Scheidt
·3 min read

PORT ALLEN, La. (BRPROUD) – The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of multiple people after an investigation into the theft of high-valued vehicles from an automotive facility.

WBRSO Sgt. Landon Groger said in a Wednesday press conference that the investigation began in March 2023 after two Ram 1500 TRX Hellcats were stolen along with a GMC pickup truck used to crash into the Union Pacific Railroad Yard in Port Allen.

“This location services the southern region for Dodge vehicles, including the high-value models that are waiting the transportation to the dealerships. These vehicles are brought in via rail and offloaded into a secure line. As part of this process, and prior to this incident, key fobs were left inside of the vehicles,” Groger said.

During the investigation, detectives found AirTags in some of the recovered vehicles and traced them back to the suspects. Detectives also learned that vehicles found with an AirTag also had their key fobs missing.

A search warrant executed in Jefferson Parish and Lafourche Parish resulted in the recovery of 19 missing key fobs, three more AirTags, grinders and burglary tools.

Groger said Keelen Magee, 26, was arrested and booked on multiple charges including theft of motor vehicle parts (key fobs) and attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

Ashanti Bradley, 22, was arrested and charged with principle to theft of a motor vehicle, principle to simple burglary, theft of motor vehicle parts (key fobs), principal to attempted theft of a motor vehicle, obstruction of justice, principle to unauthorized entry of a business, principle to simple criminal trespassing, principle to burglary of a motor vehicle and principle to simple criminal damage to property.

Four hurt in crash involving school bus and ambulance in Port Allen

Joseph Parker Jr., 38, was arrested on charges including principal to theft of motor vehicle parts (key fobs) and principal to attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

Dion Roberts, 24, was arrested on charges including burglary of a business, theft of a motor vehicle, simple criminal damage to property, theft of motor vehicle parts (key fobs), attempted theft of a motor vehicle and principal to theft of a motor vehicle.

Kelsey Smith, 25, was arrested on charges including principal to burglary of a motor vehicle, principal to theft of a motor vehicle, principal to simple criminal damage to property and principal to attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

Ja’Quan Price, 18, was arrested on charges including unauthorized entry of a business, simple criminal trespassing and principal to burglary of a motor vehicle.

Groger said Kenneth Stackhouse, 25, is wanted by the sheriff’s office on charges including simple burglary of a business, theft of a motor vehicle, principal to theft of a motor vehicle, theft of motor vehicle parts (key fobs), simple criminal damage to property, principle to attempted theft of a motor vehicle, principal to simple burglary of a business and obstruction of justice.

Union Pacific Railroad Police made changes to their security.

“They have revamped their security measures to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. As far as the community, we always want to be aware of things, you know, not to alarm anybody, but if you get that alert, contact your local law enforcement, or contact the dealership. Maybe they would know more. But, yes, this whole investigation was more so from these bad guys putting apple airbags in vehicles and ultimately had the goal to go take the car,” Groger said.

Latest News

.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.