Etienne arrested, charged with armed robbery

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Police said heavyweight boxer Clifford Etienne held up a check cashing business, fired a shot when a clerk failed to move fast enough and pulled a gun on officers as he tried carjack two different vehicles with children inside.

Etienne, who took up boxing while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery, was arrested Wednesday night as he tried to escape when the car he was driving ran up on a curb. He was being held Thursday in lieu of a $70,000 bond, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

The 33-year-old was charged with one count each of attempted first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, and two counts each of armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping.

Police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly said Etienne allegedly fired one shot when a clerk failed to move fast enough during the robbery of the check cashing business Wednesday night. After running away with an undisclosed amount of cash, he tried to carjack a young woman with two children in her car, then a man who also had two children in his car, while police chased him. He tried to fire at police but his gun malfunctioned.

While serving a 40-year sentence at two Louisiana prisons, Etienne won the state prison boxing title. He was paroled in 1998 after serving 10 years. He is best known for being knocked out by Mike Tyson in 49 seconds in 2003.