A woman in the Freret neighborhood was held at gunpoint on her front porch and it was all caught on home security cameras. It happened Tuesday night in the 2600 block of Soniat Street.
"It's something you do every day, walk from your car to your front door," resident Chris Quast said.
Except Tuesday evening, at 6:20, a man ran up behind a homeowner and held her at gunpoint. Police say the woman was walking home from a coffee shop. According to detectives, the man asked the woman for her keys. She gave him her house keys. The suspect refused to take them and ordered the woman to go inside and get her car keys. The gunman then fled in the victim's car.
Wednesday evening neighbors watched the security video in shock.
"I just can't think of anything you can do to prevent something like that," Quast said.
Police say the man is 5'9'' to 8 feet tall with a slim build and was wearing a dark mask and black pants with paint stains. Residents say any place can have its problems, but they didn't expect something this brazen on their street.
"Certainly scary, I know this neighborhood and New Orleans in general is a little riskier than most but for the time I've lived here, over the last year and a half, we haven't had any issues so it's really shocking to see and really sad to hear," Quast said.
They say they never expected they'd have to be on guard so early in the evening.
"Obviously, Day Light Saving just happened so it was dark out, but you're not really vigilant when you're coming home at that time," Quast said.
Now, with this man still on the loose residents are turning their porch lights on and looking over their shoulders.
Police are also looking for the stolen car. It's described as a white 2007 Toyota Prius with Louisiana license plate X-Q-U-1-1-1.
If you have any information that may help police, call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
Lauren Bale can be reached at lbale@wwltv.com.