Hamburger Helper hampers thief

A crime spree’s actor was identified and apprehended thanks to a latent fingerprint left on a box of Hamburger Helper the man used to rob the East Lucas Dollar General Jan. 21, according to a March 3 indictment. 

Officers were dispatched to the Dollar General in reference to a woman who was robbed at gunpoint. The 49-year-old victim told police she was approached by a man, later identified as 37-year-old Louis Lawrence Landry, who held a gun to her head and demanded money. The victim complied before Landry fled the scene on foot. The suspect was seen running toward Mr. Burger on surveillance video. 

Apparently unsatisfied with his ill-gotten gains, Landry returned to the Dollar General, where he would rob the attending cashier. Landry perused the store and took a box of Hamburger Helper to the register, along with $2 in cash. As the register opened, Landry brandished his weapon, held it to the cashier’s head and demanded she give him all the money in the register. 

The cashier told officers she feared for her life, so she left the open register unattended for Landry as she escaped to a nearby office. Landry stole approximately $323 from the register before fleeing on foot. Responding BPD officers were able to identify Landry not from surveillance footage, but from the fingerprints he left on the Hamburger Helper box he feigned purchasing. Additionally, Landry’s lack of face covering helped the cashier recognize him as the man who robbed her once he was apprehended. 

Officers were again called to the Dollar General the next day when the maskless Landry returned. The suspect fled the scene, but was arrested a short time later near the intersection of Wilson and Detroit streets. Landry admitted to robbing the Dollar General in interviews with detectives, as well as robbing a Family Dollar store Jan. 17. Landry was arrested for aggravated robbery.