By Pat Culverhouse

A Minden teenager is in custody facing a number of firearm related charges after he allegedly stopped a vehicle at gunpoint, then fired at least one shot as the driver sped away.

Chief of Police Jared McIver identified the suspect as 17-year-old Zigarri R. Miller, a resident of the 400 block of Whitlock. He was arrested by officers, including the department’s Special Response Team, just after 11 p.m. Thursday at a Brenda Circle residence.

McIver said around 10:20 p.m. Miller was walking in the middle of Pine St. while talking on the phone to a female who was a passenger in a vehicle traveling in his direction on Pine St.

When the vehicle was forced to stop to avoid hitting Miller, he allegedly approached the driver’s side window armed with a handgun and demanded the driver get out of the car. Instead, the driver accelerated away and Miller allegedly fired at least one shot in the direction of the vehicle.

McIver said the driver alerted police, and officers learned Miller had traveled to the female passenger’s residence in the 1100 block of Brenda Circle. A witness reportedly saw Miller enter the residence, armed with a handgun.

Miller reportedly entered the female’s bedroom where he remained as officers negotiated with him to come out. Police successfully talked Miller out of the house and placed him in custody.

During a search of the bedroom where Miller had barricaded himself, officers located a 9MM handgun hidden beneath clothing inside a chest of drawers. The gun’s 17-round capacity magazine contained 15 live rounds, and attempts had been made to obliterate the serial number, officers said.

Charges filed against Miller include aggravated assault with a firearm, illegal use of weapons, possession of a firearm with obliterated serial number and felony obstruction of justice.

McIver said Miller has been transported to the Jackson Parish correctional facility.

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.