Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Acting in response to a report of a stolen U-Haul truck, Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office Det. Chad Cassard was able to locate the stolen vehicle at a residence east of Varnado, according to WPSO Chief Deputy Mike Haley.

Cassard and Varnado Police Chief Louis Adams reportedly discovered the vehicle parked at the residence of Keenan Argene Moses, 34, on Live Oak Cemetery Road.

Haley said that Cassard then sought and received a search warrant for the residence from a 22nd Judicial District Court Judge and traveled back to the scene, search warrant in hand. Cassard, along with WPSO Det. Damon Mitchell, Adams and Varnado officers Jeff Kelly and Kelly Penton, then searched the property and discovered a quantity of stolen items, weapons and illegal drugs, Haley said.

Moses was arrested and transported to the Washington Parish Jail on Sunday, where he was booked on charges of three counts of possession of stolen property, 10 counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, three counts of possession of illegal drugs, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of illegal drugs with weapons present. His bond was set at $250,000.

Haley said that specific items recovered from the Moses residence included the stolen U-Haul truck, a trailer stolen from Batesville, Ark., and a trailer stolen from Knoxville, Tenn., as well as revolvers, rifles, shotguns, crossbows, marijuana, illegal pills and drug scales. All items were seized and placed in evidence.

Haley said that Moses is quite familiar with the interior of the Washington Parish Jail, having been incarcerated there at least eight previous times since his first arrest in April 2009 for possession of illegal drugs. Two months later he was arrested again and charged with forgery, four counts of theft by fraud and four counts of exploitation of the infirmed.

His third arrest was in December 2009 for possession with intent to distribute illegal drugs, use of illegal drugs in the presence of a minor, three counts of failure to have a child properly restrained in his vehicle, driving without headlights and having an open container in his vehicle.

In February 2011, he was arrested once more and charged with attempted theft of an automobile. In 2013, he was arrested for two counts of failure to appear in court. A 2016 arrest was for four counts of failure to appear in court and being a fugitive from St. Tammany Parish. His seventh arrest occurred in July 2017 on charges of home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, simple battery and being a fugitive from Louisiana Probation and Parole.

An eighth arrest in December 2020 resulted in his being charged with three counts of possession of illegal drugs with intent to distribute, possession of illegal drugs with a weapon present, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, simple battery, failure to appear in court, no driver’s license and improper lane usage. His current arrest was two months later, on Feb. 7.

“His arrest record is three pages long,” Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal said. “That is indicative of a person who has made a career of living outside the law. Many thanks to Det. Cassard for doing the legwork to solve these crimes and to Detective Mitchell, Chief Adams and Officers Kelly and Penton for their assistance. Once again, I must compliment our officers for removing dangerous drugs and weapons from our parish.”