Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents arrested three subjects for their involvement in allegedly stealing boats and motors in Livingston Parish.
Agents arrested Triton D. Bercegeay, 18, of St. Amant, Keegan K. Perkins, 18, of Gonzales, and Dawson C. Landry, 18, of Napoleonville, for two counts of theft and booked the subjects into the Livingston Parish Jail. Bercegeay was also cited for hunting deer without a deer license and deer tags.
Agents were alerted on Feb. 25 about a stolen vessel near Maurepas off Chinquapin Canal. Agents learned that Bercegeay, Perkins and Landry were involved in the stealing of this vessel and during questioning, they admitted to stealing two vessels in the early morning hours of Feb. 24.
Agents discovered that Bercegeay, Perkins and Landry were out frogging in a bateau on Feb. 24 when they stole an 18-foot bass boat with a 150 horsepower motor from a residence on Chinquapin Canal. The three subjects then rode around in that stolen vessel until they found an aluminum vessel with a 25 horsepower motor in a boat slip in the canal.
The three subjects towed the aluminum vessel with the bass boat to their truck and trailer. The three men then loaded the aluminum vessel on to their trailer and let the bass boat drift in the canal. Later that morning, a neighbor found the drifting bass boat, recovered it and returned it to the owner.
Bercegeay and Perkins then dropped Landry off at his truck so he could go home and they took the stolen aluminum boat to New River Canal in Ascension Parish. The two men then took the motor, running lights, fuel tank, and jack plate off the aluminum vessel and let the aluminum vessel drift in the New River Canal.
A neighbor found the drifting vessel on the morning of Feb. 25 and called authorities. Agents returned the stolen aluminum vessel, the motor, running lights, fuel tank and jack plate to the owner.
During questioning, Bercegeay also admitted to harvesting a deer in Ascension Parish in December of 2023 without possession of a deer license or deer tags.
Agents arrested Bercegeay on March 7, and arrested Perkins and Landry on March 8.
Theft brings up to a $10,000 fine and 10 years in jail. Deer hunting without a deer license and deer tags brings up to a $350 fine for each offense.
Bercegeay may also face civil restitution totaling $1,624 for the replacement value of the illegally taken deer.
Agents participating in this case are Corporal Brent Hebert, Corporal Chelsea Kling, Sgt. Jake Darden and Agent Ethan Arbour.
