1-26-21
A FORTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD NEW IBERIA MAN IS BEHIND BARS FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING AN IBERIA PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT VEHICLE AND LEADING DEPUTIES ON A CHASE INTO LAFAYETTE. IT WAS ALL CAUGHT ON CAMERA. GERALD GRUENIG REPORTS.
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A FORMER CROWLEY POLICE OFFICER HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STRIKING AN INMATE THAT SHE WAS TRANSPORTING. TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD ASHLEE JOYCE MCELROY, WHO WAS A PATROL OFFICER FOR TWO YEARS BEFORE RESIGNING LAST OCTOBER, FACES CHARGES OF SECOND DEGREE BATTERY AND MALFEASANCE, WHICH COULD RESULT IN UP TO THIRTEEN YEARS IN JAIL. POLICE CHIEF JIMMY BROUSSARD TELLS KLFY TV IT’S BEEN HARD ON HIM AND HIS FELLOW OFFICERS BECAUSE MCELROY WAS A COMPASSIONATE OFFICER WITH A HEART FOR THE CITY AND THE PEOPLE SHE SERVED. HOWEVER, BROUSSARD SAYS, POLICE ARE HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD AND MUST ADHERE TO THOSE STANDARDS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
The Calcasieu Parish sheriff says four girls are accused of stealing knives and using them in a lethal attack inside a Walmart store that was recorded on social media. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kayla Vincent says a 13-year-old was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder. Three girls aged 12, 13 and 14 were arrested on a charge of being a principal to second-degree murder. This is the third killing in six months involving juveniles in Calcasieu Parish.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Louisiana have dropped to the lowest level since late December. Figures posted Monday by the state health department show the number of people hospitalized with the disease caused by the new coronavirus at 1,638. The number was 2,069 on Jan. 7, higher than the peak of just under 2,000 in the first deadly surge that hit the state in early 2020. The Louisiana numbers are similar to a national trend.
YESTERDAY’S COVID-NINETEEN REPORT FROM THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH COVERS TWO DAYS, BECAUSE OF SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE. THEY REPORT JUST TWENTY-SIX MORE DEATHS, WHICH IS THE SMALLEST AMOUNT IN MORE THAN THREE WEEKS. THERE ARE NEARLY TWO THOUSAND NEW CONFIRMED CASES, PUTTING THE TOTAL ABOVE THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE THOUSAND. HOSPITALIZATIONS DECREASED BY THREE BUT THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS ROSE BY FOUR.
ACADIANA HAD FIVE MORE COVID-NINETEEN DEATHS. THREE WERE IN LAFAYETTE PARISH WHILE THE OTHER TWO WERE IN ST. MARTIN PARISH. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ADDED ONE MORE, WHICH WAS IN JEFF DAVIS PARISH. THERE WERE ONE HUNDRED NINETY ADDITIONAL NEW COVID-NINETEEN CASES IN ACADIANA, INCLUDING SEVENTY-NINE IN LAFAYETTE PARISH. FIFTY-TWO NEW CASES WERE REPORTED IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA, MOST OF WHICH WERE IN CALCASIEU PARISH, WITH FORTY-THREE.
An attack on a gay Lafayette teenager is now being prosecuted as a hate crime. Police initially said they didn’t see evidence of a hate crime in the attack on Holden White, who spent days in a coma and nearly a month in the hospital. Chance Seneca pleaded not guilty to attempted murder after allegedly choking White with a cord and slicing open his wrists. Prosecutors added the hate crime charge last week.
THE EVANGELINE PARISH SHERIFF IS HOPING TO GET A ONE CENT SALES TAX APPROVED BY VOTERS THAT WOULD RAISE THREE-POINT-SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS FOR HIS OFFICE. CHARLES GUILLORY SAYS THEY HAVE BEEN OPERATING ON A BUDGET THAT HASN’T CHANGED MUCH SINCE NINTEEN SEVENTY-SEVEN. THERE ARE JUST TWO DEPUTIES PATROLLING THE PARISH PER SHIFT, AND GUILLORY WOULD LIKE TO RAISE THAT TO FIVE PER SHIFT. GUILLORY IS HOPING THAT THE POLICE JURY NEXT MONTH WILL APPROVE THE RESOLUTION TO PUT THE ONE CENT SALES TAX ON THE APRIL TWENTY-FOURTH BALLOT.
