12-22-14
(AP) A Beauregard Parish couple charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile could face murder charges if an injured child dies. Brittany D. Cooley, 23, and Kevin A. Waller, 28, were arrested Dec. 16. No bond was set, and the two remain in the Beauregard Parish jail. The victim, Cooley’s 5-month-old daughter, was transferred to an Alexandria hospital with a fractured skull and severe bruising. Joe Toler, Beauregard Sheriff’s Office chief deputy, tells the American Press (http://bit.ly/1sYfDtB) that infant is being kept on life support so her organs can be donated. Toler writes in an email that detectives on the case have been “emotionally drained” by the investigation.
AN UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER OF A CORVETTE IS DEAD AFTER A TRAGIC ACCIDENT ON I-10 NEAR HIGHWAY 171 YESTERDAY. ACCORDING TO LAKE CHARLES POLICE, THE CORVETTE WAS GOING EAST ONTO THE 171 RAMP, WHEN IT CROSSED THE SHOULDER AND CRASHED INTO AN 18 WHEELER TRAVELING IN THE OUTSIDE LANE. THE CAR WAS LODGED UNDER THE TRUCK AND DRAGGED ABOUT 500 FEET, THEN CAUGHT FIRE. THE UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER OF THE CORVETTE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE AND THE TWO OCCUPANTS OF THE 18 WHEELER WERE NOT INJURED.
ALSO, AROUND TEN YESTERDAY MORNING, AN 18-WHEELER WAS TRAVELING TOO FAST NEAR HIGHWAY 190 AND 1-49 AND THE TANKER ROLLED ON ITS SIDE. IT TOOK THE STATE POLICE ABOUT SIX HOURS TO CLEAR THE ACCIDENT AND GET TRAFFIC FLOWING AGAIN. THE DRIVER SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES AND WAS CITED FOR CARLESS OPERATION.
Police say Jamal Scott James (25) surrendered to authorities on Saturday. James is accused of raping a woman, Thursday night, at the Beau Chene truck stop in Grand Coteau. A customer found the woman naked and badly beaten in the rear of the business. Police were able to identify James after viewing surveillance video. A warrant was immediately issued for his arrest.
(AP) Two-year-old twins have died following a house fire on Lincoln Road in Alexandria. KALB-TV reports that firefighters responded to the home around 3 p.m. Saturday. According to family members, four people lived at the home. Their names were not released. The Alexandria Fire Department says the twins were inside the house at the time of the fire. The two children were taken to a hospital where they later died. Autopsies are pending for the children. The investigation into the fire continues.
(AP) University of Louisiana-Lafayette officials are evaluating damage to a dormitory after a Sunday morning fire. University officials say that a fire alarm went off in Baker Hall about 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters arrived to find a fire burning in a third-floor data equipment closet. Students were evacuated and no injuries were reported Firefighters extinguished the blaze, but fire and water damaged equipment that provides phone and computer network service to rooms on the third and fourth floors of the dormitory. A sprinkler system also activated, causing water damages to some rooms below the third floor. Authorities are investigating the fire’s cause.
(AP) A Crowley attorney claims that police held his two children at gunpoint and shocked him repeatedly with a stun gun when responding to a call from a neighbor who mistakenly thought she heard someone in distress. The Advocate reports the lawsuit was filed Friday. That’s two days after a grand jury indicted the attorney, 45-year-old Clay LeJeune and his wife, 40-year-old Mitzi LeJeune, for threatening and arguing with police during the May 25 incident. The lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages for civil rights violations, also alleges Crowley Police Chief K.P. Gibson might have a vendetta against the LeJeunes because they knew of certain personal indiscretions of the chief. The couple’s attorney declines to elaborate. Gibson writes in an email that he doesn’t know what LeJeune’s talking about.
On Saturday, the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office, animal control and state police began investigating an cock fighting incident on the 600 block of vintage road near Church Point. Maxine Trahan with the sheriff’s office confirmed they received a call involving suspicious activity. The three agencies are looking into the alleged rooster fighting operation. Trahan says there have been no arrests, but the roosters on site were taken by animal control. The sheriff’s office expects to release more details on the case sometime later today.
(AP) Police Chief Don Dixon says Lake Charles police officers need bigger raises than the ones that the City Council approved last week for all employees. Dixon tells the American Press () that officers are leaving his department for better-paying jobs. The City Council on Wednesday approved a 2 percent longevity raise, as well as a 2 percent across-the-board increase, for all city workers. First-year city police officers will make $15.17 an hour, as well as $200 in supplemental pay from the city. After the first year, the $200 is replaced by a $500 supplement from the state. Officials are trying to recruit new officers to fill nine vacancies. If the department can reach its full 189-employee complement, it will be able to hire seven more grant-funded positions.
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