Louisiana man accused of murder now in custody
Fifty-one-year-old David Rester Jr. is the man who led law enforcement on a high-speed chase on I-10 through Hancock and Harrison counties Friday after robbing a Waveland bank.
Rester is also connected to murder and armed robbery cases in Louisiana.
By the end of the week, Rester will face an initial appearance in a Waveland municipal court on charges connected to Friday’s bank robbery, where he faces charges of armed robbery and three counts of kidnapping for binding the hands of the bank tellers.
He also faces numerous charges in Harrison County as a result of the chase that went over 100 MPH.
In an interview with a Washington Parish sheriff’s office detective, Rester admitted to murdering and robbing Marl Wayne Smith in Bogalusa on Thursday.
He’s also wanted in St. Tammany Parish for robbing and physically and sexually assaulting a clerk at a Pearl River area convenience store on February 27th.
Waveland Police Lt. Chad Dorn said, “It was team work all the way around from the initial call from the bank, the panic alarm to us responding and the officer observing the suspect vehicle fleeing the scene, to the pursuit that took place, which involved several different agencies from the Waveland Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, joining in once it got into Harrison County. It was just team work all the way around. It’s good to get somebody like that off the street.”
Bay St. Louis investigators also helped at the bank robbery scene.
