THIBODAUX - Police have arrested a man after he suffered a possible heart attack following a heist at the store where he was recently hired.

According to the Thibodaux Police Department, 25-year-old Nicholas Meyer was arrested for the early morning robbery Sunday.

Police say the incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. at a store in the 1500 Block of Ridgefield Road. Employees were just walking through the door to open the store for the day when a masked man held the door open with a hammer. 

The masked suspect then allegedly punched one clerk, knocking him to the ground, before swinging the hammer at the second. Police say the attacker missed and struck the victim's wrist. The man then threw the hammer in a trash can before punching the second victim, knocking him to the ground as well.

The employees told police that the suspect then kicked in one of the doors inside the store and grabbed a bag of money. 

As one of the victims began to get up off the floor, the masked man threw a liquor bottle, just missing the employee. Police say the robber then fled the scene, money bag in-hand.

Upon the arrival of police, a K-9 unit led officers to the back of an address in the 1400 block of Oakley Street. Police soon discovered that Meyer, a recently-hired employee of the store lived at that location.

When Police went to speak to Meyer, they discovered that he had recently checked himself into a hospital for a possible heart attack. Police spoke to Meyer at the hospital, and he denied having any involvement in the robbery.

Detectives conducted a search warrant at Meyer's home and recovered the money bag, over $6,500, and clothing matching the description of the suspect that had been stuffed in a white trash bag.

Police spoke to Meyer again after he was released from the hospital and he confessed to the crime. Police also learned that Meyer had attempted to break in through the rear of the store several hours before the robbery.

Police arrested Meyer and charged him armed robbery, attempted simple burglary, two counts of simple battery. He is currently held in the Lafourche Parish Detention Center on a $265,000 bond.