THIBODAUX, La. (WGNO) — A botched drug deal led to a high-speed chase and shootout after three men attempted to buy marijuana with counterfeit money.
Nineteen-year-old Kameron Martinez, 19-year-old Ernest Ross III, and 20-year-old Wesley Wheeler met up with 18-year-old Jean Tregre just before 9:30 p.m. on December 11 for the drug deal, according to the Thibodaux Police Department.
The deal went bad when Tregre realized that the cash Martinez, Ross, and Wheeler had used to purchase the pot was fake, according to police.
Tregre, who was driving a silver Ford F150, began to chase the blue Chevrolet Silverado Wheeler was driving, and fired at least two shots from a shotgun during the pursuit.
A TPD officer heard the shots and gave chase when he saw the two trucks speeding through an intersection.
Tregre stopped his truck at the intersection of Peltier Drive and Canal Boulevard, while the other truck continued to flee.
Tregre and his passenger, Lexi Lasyone, were escorted to the Thibodaux Police Department for questioning.
A search of Tregre’s truck turned up a Remington 870 shotgun, several spent shotgun shells, drug paraphernalia, approximately 28 grams of suspected marijuana, and counterfeit paper money, according to the TPD.
Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies caught up to Wheeler’s truck at the intersection of Main Project Road and Isle of Cuba Road and took all three men into custody.
Tregre has been charged with Aggravated Assault With a Firearm, Illegal Use of Weapons, Illegal Carrying of a Weapon, Distribution/Possession With Intent of Schedule I CDS, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond has been set at $256,000.
Martinez, Ross, and Wheeler all face charges of monetary instrument abuse, and Wheeler also faces two counts of being a fugitive stemming from two contempt of court warrants in the Golden Meadow City Court.
