A woman who agreed to a date with a man she met online wound up being robbed at gunpoint, New Orleans police said.
The NOPD is asking the public’s help to locate 29-year-old Bryan Sanford, whom they say pulled a gun, robbed and temporarily kidnapped the woman after she met him Friday at 11:18 a.m. in the 8000 block of Lakeshore Drive near Lake Pontchartrain.
Police said Sanford freed the woman after forcing her to drive him to a location in Metairie, where he fled on foot with her belongings, which included a purse, cellphone and gun. The NOPD has not disclosed the victim’s age.
Sanford is wanted on suspicion of armed robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, the NOPD said.
Court records show Sanford has been convicted in three separate felony cases over the past seven years.
He pleaded guilty after two separate 2014 arrests, and originally was ordered to serve three years of a six-year sentence for attempted armed robbery, simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, attempted simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, illegal possession of a stolen firearm and theft of less than $500.
Records show Sanford served the three years but violated terms of his parole and in July 2018 was ordered to serve the remaining three years of that sentence, which had been suspended.
Sanford had been arrested in June 2018, and in October 2018 pleaded guilty again, this time to an amended charge or attempted possession of a firearm by a felon, illegal carrying of a weapon and theft of less than $1,000. He received another one-year sentence on that conviction, his most recent in Orleans Parish.
Anyone with information on Sanford’s whereabouts is asked to contact NOPD Third District detectives at (504) 658-6030 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.
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