St. Roch man arrested, accused of shooting alleged teen car burglar

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A St. Roch resident is in legal trouble after being arrested for allegedly shooting a 14-year-old boy he caught breaking into his car on Tuesday morning (March 7).

Court records show 26-year-old Denzal Peters was booked with aggravated battery, illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice. Peters appeared Wednesday afternoon in Orleans Parish Magistrate Court, where his bond was set at $42,500.

New Orleans police said video evidence showed a person emerging from a house in the 2400 block of North Tonti Street and firing several shots toward a stolen vehicle occupied by three people, who appeared to have been attempting to break in to Peters’ black Dodge Charger. Police said a 14-year-old sustained several gunshot wounds before the stolen car sped away and crashed in the 2200 block of St. Roch Avenue.

Related coverage

14-year-old boy shot multiple times; another teen arrested, NOPD says

Gun violence kills 6 juveniles, wounds 17 in New Orleans through first week of March

The NOPD said the wounded 14-year-old and a second juvenile also face charges related to the incident, and displayed weapons, ammunition, cell phones and narcotics that were seized after a search warrant was obtained for the stolen Kia Optima they were using and for Peters’ house.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, NOPD detectives interviewed Peters following the shooting, and he admitted he lived at the Tonti Street home, owned the Dodge Charger and that no one else was home with him. Peters refused to say who had fired shots at the alleged car burglars from the front porch of his home.

A search of Peters’ residence produced a Glock 9mm firearm, two extended magazines, empty ammunition boxes and several plastic bags containing marijuana, the affidavit said. A search of Peters’ Dodge Charger came up empty, the warrant application added.

Police determined the teen was shot by a rifle, which was not immediately recovered. Investigators said in the affidavit that video evidence showed someone believed to be Peters stashing that firearm somewhere outside the camera’s view before returning inside the house before officers arrived.

The police narrative says rifle bullet casings were recovered from Peters’ front yard and front porch, but does not indicate whether the rifle itself was recovered.

The NOPD said that upon his release from the hospital, the 14-year-old would be booked with possession of a stolen automobile, simple burglary of a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a juvenile. The second juvenile already has been booked into the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center with possession of a stolen automobile, simple burglary of a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a juvenile, police said.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2023 WVUE. All rights reserved.