Deliveryman in Slidell fakes armed robbery

By Erik Sanzenbach
St. Tammany News
Published on Friday, May 15, 2009 12:24 AM CDT

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A Slidell man who delivers potato chips to local stores was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Slidell police after he admitted to reporting a false armed robbery.

Michael Stewart, 40, 110 Bayou Paquet Road, Slidell, was arrested shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday for making a false report of a crime.

According to the police report, Stewart called police claiming he had been robbed after he had made a delivery of chips to the Quick Check convenience store on Fremaux Drive around 2 p.m.

He told police that as he climbed aboard his delivery truck, he was greeted by a person who had a gun wrapped in a red bandana. Stewart said the person told him to hand over all the money from the delivery.

Stewart then told police the “robber” was too scared to leave the truck because of a gasoline tanker truck that was in the parking lot, so he forced Stewart to drive him to a nearby church parking lot, where the person jumped out and ran away.

However, after police questioned witnesses at the store and church parking lots, they realized Stewart’s story was a hoax. After questioning, Stewart finally admitted he had made up the story. According to police, Stewart said he was having financial problems and needed the money, so he pocketed the cash and made up the story about being robbed. Police found the money inside the truck after Stewart told them where he had hidden it.

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