Couple returning home after midnight robbed by 3 men at gunpoint in Uptown New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - An Uptown New Orleans couple is badly shaken after three armed men stole their car early Saturday morning (June 4). They had just come in from dinner when they found themselves looking down the barrel of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

“Got out of the car and three men walked up from this corner and one of them had what looked like an AR-15 rifle,” the female victim told Fox 8.

They say they were aware that the city is gripped by rampant carjackings. In fact, the man had been carjacked nearly 20 years ago. But they were surprised to have it happen to them just after midnight Saturday morning.

“As they approached he had a rifle pointed at us and he kept it on us almost the whole time and then there was another man who walked to the car and he had kept it pointed at us as well,” said the man. FOX 8 is not identifying either victim for their safety.

The couple was returning home around when they saw three men jump out of a white van.

“He just said keys and I just gave him my car keys,” said the female.

They say the entire incident lasted just one minute.

“We lied down on the stairs right here and they just kept saying keys wallet money and we just threw them everything we had and they just took our cash took her keys started the car and backed it out of the driveway very quickly,” said the male.

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One of the gunmen took off in their 2004 Toyota Camry.

“They hit a car on the other side of the street and just took off down the road,” he said.

The victims say the other two ran down General Pershing, toward Tchoupitoulas St. and may have jumped into a waiting vehicle.

The victims say they wish they had not stopped at their home. They felt they were being followed but weren’t sure.

“They had been following us in a white car and they saw us pull in the driveway and they pulled right around the corner and parked somewhere over here,” said the female victim.

The victims didn’t fight back or make eye contact.

“When they had the car and they had the cash he carefully put the stuff back down in front of us and gave us back everything else,” she said.

They say police responded quickly, they just wish, there were more.

“I think that would go a long way if there’s more funding not just for police presence but for more investigators so we can catch up with these guys,” said the two-time carjack victim.

The victims say if you ever feel that you’re being followed late at night, you may want to consider not going home. Experts say it might be best to head to a police station. There were three armed robberies, two carjackings, and one shooting in New Orleans, overnight.

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