BATON ROUGE - Employees at Our Lady of the Lake hospital were on high alert after a nurse was attacked by an armed carjacker last week.

Baton Rouge Police arrested a 15-year-old Wednesday in the crime. Officers found the nurse's car in the Gardere area.

"Now investigators will look to see if he may be connected with anything else," Sgt. Don Coppola said.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said the teen is also linked to a rash of other violent crimes in the parish. The teen is connected to three armed carjackings and an armed robbery of a gas station over the past few months.

With the heightened crime rate in the area, police are warning residents to stay on guard.

"Make sure your doors are locked, make sure your windows are up. If you're going to and from a vehicle, make sure you walk in a buddy system," Coppola said.

Baton Rouge police say there have been about 190 reported robberies in the city so far in 2021. It's quite the leg up from the 145 reported robberies from this same time last year.

"These are unofficial numbers, but we have seen an increase from last year to this year. Now with that increase, our solvability rate has gone up. Our clearance rate is around 62 percent for those robberies reported this year," Coppola said.

With the spike in crime, Baton Rouge Police Supply Store workers say self preservation items are flying off the shelves. Employees say these items were mainly bought by women who have a desire to protect themselves.

"We have to keep stock, because nothing has been as urgent as it is now when the crime has picked up," Assistant Manager Shirley Hogan said.

The hearing for the 15-year-old involved in the recent string of crimes is set to begin Friday morning.