EBR man chases suspected vehicle burglar nearly 20 miles across parish Sunday

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An East Baton Rouge Parish man chased a suspected car burglar for more than 20 miles across the parish early Sunday morning. Deputies eventually caught up to the pursuit and arrested a teenager for attempted theft.

Investigators said several thieves driving a white SUV were spotted on home surveillance cameras stealing items from vehicles inside a neighborhood in the city of Central on four different nights since Dec. 23, 2021. Following that, several residents there teamed up to form a neighborhood watch.

When what appeared to be that same vehicle arrived in their neighborhood just before 4 a.m. Sunday, homeowners quickly spotted it and drove up behind the vehicle. Security footage shows one of the homeowners got into his own vehicle and pursued the driver of the SUV from Central into Baton Rouge, all while on the phone with a 911 dispatcher advising of his location. East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle, a white Ford Edge Escape, on Exchequer Drive near Industriplex Blvd. in Baton Rouge, according to the police report.

Deputies arrested the driver, Michael Miller, 19, of Baton Rouge, and charged him with attempted burglary. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. The vehicle he was driving was seized as evidence.

Deputies said the temporary tag on the vehicle matches that of the vehicle seen on surveillance video from that same neighborhood during car burglaries on Dec. 23, 2021.

The homeowner who pursued the vehicle Sunday said he did not personally get anything stolen during the burglaries.

“All I’m out of is a quarter tank of gas,” said the man. He asked not to be identified.

Investigators remind homeowners to lock their vehicles since unlocked vehicles account for a vast majority of vehicle burglaries.

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