A Tennessee man was arrested after he burglarized four different restaurants Friday night and then took St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies on a chase Saturday afternoon.
Between the hours of 10:30 p.m. Friday night and 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, four restaurants were burglarized in western St. Tammany. It was believed that a white box truck was used during those burglaries.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday, an alert deputy with STPSO’s 4th Patrol District observed a box truck matching the description of the one used in the burglaries being driven on Collins Boulevard in Covington. The deputy conducted a traffic stop, but the driver did not comply with the deputy’s commands and instead fled southbound on U.S. Highway 190, crossing the median several times, driving against traffic at times and striking five vehicles, before heading west on I-12.
The driver exited at Pinnacle Parkway, abandoned the box truck behind a business and fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood.
Following a brief foot pursuit Malik Morris of Memphis was taken into custody.
In addition to the four burglaries that occurred Friday night/Saturday morning, Morris has also been tied to another restaurant burglary which occurred in western St. Tammany in June. He was arrested and booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center on numerous charges.
Sheriff Randy Smith called it a good example of good old fashioned police work.
The occupants from three of the vehicles that were struck during the pursuit were transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment.
