Lasyone
A man wanted by both the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Minden Police Department is in custody following a shopping and theft spree as far away as Arkansas.
The sheriff’s office arrested Dustin Vaughn Lasyone, 24, of the 900 block of N. Grove Street in Winnfield on warrants for felony theft, theft of a firearm and simple burglary. He was also arrested as a fugitive from MPD on warrants for forgery and unauthorized use of an access card as theft. Total bond is $60,000.
Deputies say he was arrested Friday for an alleged burglary that occurred on Newt Brown Road where he forced his way into a home and stole several items, one of which was a semiautomatic rifle. Lasyone reportedly told deputies he stole a laptop computer and an undisclosed amount of jewelry and traded it for drugs. The rifle was pawned at a pawnshop in Bossier City, according to the report. The rifle was recovered and identified from its serial number.
Police Chief Steve Cropper says the two warrants from police stem from an incident that occurred in September when he reportedly stole a debit card from the woman he was living with and used it two times.
“We received a complaint from a victim indicating she wanted to file a report saying someone had used her bank card to withdraw $100 from the ATM,” he said. “When she was paying some bills, she noticed this $100 withdrawal along with a $3.95 charge for not using her bank’s ATM. She told the officer that the only person who would have used her card was a male going by the name of Dustin Howell.”
The investigation was turned over to Sgt. Ryan Barnette, who reviewed the security footage from the ATM transaction, witnessing a male fitting the description given at the ATM on Aug. 25.
Cropper says the victim told them a .357 magnum revolver was stolen and a shotgun had been taken from a relative’s residence.
“A couple of days later, Sgt. Barnette was contacted by Det. Tommy Kemp, of the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office,” he said. “He was working a theft case regarding the victim’s sister, in which a number of items were stolen from her residence.”
When Barnette learned the items had been pawned at a pawnshop in Bossier City, he learned the person fit the description given by the victim and was identified as Lasyone.
Barnette contacted the victim again, and by that time, she discovered two checks had been taken from her checkbook, Cropper said.
“She didn’t realize they were missing until they cleared the bank on Sept. 6,” he said. “It was used at a local store to purchase about $300 worth of merchandise. We contacted loss prevention at the store, and camera footage showed Lasyone, wearing the same clothing from other footage, purchased a Lifeproof cellphone case and a men’s electric shaver, totaling about $292 worth of merchandise.”
During the course of the investigation, Sgt. Barnette learned Lasyone was in custody in Warren, Arkansas on a credit card fraud charge.
“Apparently Lasyone’s boss was bringing him to the Warren Police Department to turn himself in, and at the last minute, he fled on foot before reaching the police department,” he said. “He later surrendered, and he was held in the Bradley County jail until extradition was signed.”
He was extradited to Webster Parish and booked on charges from the sheriff’s office and Minden Police Department.
Cropper says he also has warrants for his arrest by the Office of Probation and Parole in Natchitoches Parish and warrants from the Bossier City Police Department.
Cropper says during questioning, Lasyone admitted to stealing the victim’s debit card and using it at an ATM at Love’s Truck Stop for $100, as well as purchasing the men’s electric shaver and cellphone case. He reportedly returned the case at a store in Natchitoches for cash.
Lasyone was booked at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center.