By Bonnie Culverhouse
A second juvenile is in a Shreveport jail in conjunction with the hit-and-run, carjacking/child abduction incident that took place early Tuesday morning at Love’s Truck Stop on Hwy. 531 in Minden.
Minden Police Chief Jared McIver said the juvenile has been positively identified, and officers will be bringing him to Minden Thursday.
“This second juvenile was the driver of the truck that struck a 9-year-old girl,” McIver said. “The one taken into custody Tuesday was the one trying to steal the vehicle containing her two sisters.”
His bond is $2.5 million, while the one arrested Wednesday has a bond set at $3 million.
McIver said early Tuesday morning (just after midnight), a man and his three daughters were at Love’s Truck Stop on Hwy. 531.
“The dad went into the store with his youngest – a 9-year-old – and when he looked back at his vehicle, a black male was trying to get into it with the two older girls,” McIver said. “The dad ran outside and when he did, the guy ran off.”
There was another suspect who, as he was leaving the parking lot, picked up the first suspect and then struck the 9-year-old who had followed her father into the parking lot. She was airlifted to a Shreveport hospital with broken bones. She is recovering.
The chief said the suspects drove a stolen U-Haul pick-up truck with all decals removed to resemble a regular white truck. They were also wanted in Shreveport for armed robbery.
“We’ve got to give praise to Shreveport PD, Bossier Parish Sheriff’s department and Minden City Marshal’s office for their assistance,” McIver added.
A GoFundMe page has been organized by Summer Portillo to help the family with expenses.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
