Dog shot as alleged bank robber arrested in Shreveport

Updated 11:28 a.m. Tuesday

Alleged bank robber Mark Longenecker surrendered peacefully to police Tuesday morning, although authorities said an aggressive dog was shot and injured during the arrest.

A woman was detained and was interviewed by detectives, according to officers at the scene. A police spokeswoman said the woman was later released.

Longenecker allegedly robbed the Regions Bank at 6800 Pines Road Monday morning and outran cops, drones and helicopters during the multi-agency search Monday. He eluded authorities until Tuesday.

An anonymous tip led authorities Tuesday to 415½ Olive St. The information was so good that it left no doubt in the mind of Cpl. Lonnie Haskins that Longenecker was here.

"I believe with the information that he gave me, it wasn't (in) doubt," Haskins said.

Haskins offered the following account of this morning's arrest:

Police officers arrived at the house around 8:10 a.m. They knocked and knocked on the door, but the knocks went unanswered. 

A dog came out of the home and acted aggressively toward officers. The dog then ran back inside the home.

Longenecker came outside and lay on the ground. The dog returned and tried to attack an officer. Officers shot the dog but it survived, Haskins said.

"When I put the handcuffs on him," Haskins said of Longenecker, "he said, 'I'm Mark. I'm the one you're looking for.'"

A white Ford pickup truck, perhaps the one witnesses saw Longenecker getting into a day earlier as he sought to elude law enforcement authorities, sat in the front yard of 415 Olive St. next door.

Police detained two others Monday morning and then let them go, Haskins said. 

The woman who was detained was not arrested. Authorities did not release her name.

Police issued a warrant for Longenecker's arrest Monday night after searching the woods near I-220 and Jefferson Paige Road for several hours on Monday. 

Original story

Shreveport Police said late Monday that they had identified the man they believe is responsible for the robbery of a west Shreveport bank earlier in the day.

Authorities now believe that Mark Longenecker, 52, of the 2200 block of Soda Lake Circle, was responsible for the robbery shortly before 10 a.m. of the Regions Bank at 6800 Pines Road.

Police have obtained a warrant for Longenecker’s arrest charging him with one count of armed robbery. His bail is set at $500,000.

Investigators have asked for the public's help in finding Longenecker. If you have information about where he is, you're asked to call the Shreveport Police Department at (318) 673-7300. To report a tip anonymously through Shreveport Caddo Crime Stoppers, call (318) 673-7373

Longenecker remained at large Tuesday morning following events the day before, in which he is alleged to have stolen an undisclosed sum of cash from the bank, outrun Louisiana State Police, waded through woods and probably escaped in a beat-up white pickup truck.

The hunt began shortly before 10 a.m. when Shreveport Police responded to an alarm at the Regions Bank branch.

Cpl. Angie Willhite of the Shreveport Police Department provided members of the news media with details of the robbery and the manhunt as law enforcement searched for the man.

A man entered the bank and slipped a note to the teller demanding money. The man then flashed a silver handgun at the teller.

The teller handed over an undisclosed sum of money, and the man left the bank in a tan Nissan Pathfinder.

Louisiana State Police tried to pull over the speeding Pathfinder on I-220, but were likely unaware the man behind the wheel had robbed a bank, Willhite said.

The man exited the interstate at Jefferson Paige Road before turning down the nearby 3900 block of Lillian Avenue. The man ran out of road and the SUV bogged down in mud, Willhite said. He fled on foot into the surrounding wooded area.

Authorities said the man was a "very dirty" white man in his 40s or 50s, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 200 to 220 pounds. He has brown hair and was wearing a green or tan shirt and blue jeans.

The FBI, U.S. marshals, state police, Caddo Parish sheriff's deputies, city police and city marshals were all on scene throughout the morning and early afternoon. A Shreveport Police Department drone and a Louisiana State Police helicopter hovered overhead, combing the area. K-9 units sniffed out the woods.

"There's a lot of cover," Willhite said as authorities searched. "There's a lot of big trees. This area is wooded from here all the way to Lakeshore Drive all the way to Westwood Golf Course."

Residents were told to stay inside their homes. State and city police sealed off Lillian Avenue as well as nearby Rose and Roundtree streets. 

Alfred Dixon, 57, has lived on 3900 block of Lillian Avenue for all of his life. He was just waking up when police arrived to knock on his door. The man in Monday's robbery left his vehicle at the end of Dixon's street. 

"I saw all these police cars on my street and I was wondering what was going on," Dixon said. "They were telling me about someone had robbed a bank. That's all I know. ... This ain't never happened here on this street. I just seen all the police and dogs and stuff. It just seemed strange to me.

"I hope they find him — wherever he is."

About an hour after he entered the woods, the man made his getaway, police said. A witness told authorities that a man matching the description of the bank robber was seen getting into a dirty and possibly damaged white Ford pickup around Curtis Lane and Greenwood Road, Willhite said.

Police do not know who was driving pickup.

Authorities towed the suspect's vehicle from the scene around 1 p.m. The state police chopper no longer hovered overhead as the search for the suspected robber led elsewhere.