ST. GABRIEL - A man fleeing the outlet mall in Ascension tried to run over a law enforcement officer and took pursuing agents on a high-speed chase through two parishes Thursday.

The suspected crooks - a man and woman - were cornered in St. Gabriel between La. 30 and the Mississippi River around lunchtime. A WBRZ news crew later spotted the woman in police custody at the scene. Police said a second woman involved was left behind at the shopping center and also detained by officers.

Gonzales police initially began investigating after someone reported the suspicious trio was buying items and immediately returning them. When an officer tried to question them, the man drove off and nearly hit the cop.

The woman was quickly captured and arrested after the two jumped out of the car. State corrections agents along with dogs were involved in the search for the man, whom, as of 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, had not been located.

Both women claimed they didn't actually know the man and that they were only hanging around him at the outlet mall.

The search area was along La. 30 and La. 75 in St. Gabriel for most of Thursday afternoon. 

The St. Gabriel Police Department was also involved and inadvertently stumbled upon an escaped work-release inmate, too, from East Baton Rouge.