3-21-17
LAFAYETTE ATTORNEY VANESSA ANSEMAN GOT SOME GOOD NEWS YESTERDAY. JULIE DARCE HAS THE DETAILS.
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Police and witnesses say just about everything went wrong for a Louisiana woman when she tried to rob a bar. Barbara Boyd, manager at Linda’s Lounge in Lake Charles, says the woman came in early Saturday, carrying what appeared to be a rifle and demanded money. When the bartender refused, she grabbed the tip jar and a customer tackled her. She drove off with the cash in a Buick LeSabre, but police say it crashed while officers were still at the robbery scene. Police say 39-year-old Keeshala Demetra Jacobs of Lake Charles was arrested on an armed robbery charge, and her bond is set at $100,000.
ONE OF THE LEADERS IN A FAILED RECALL EFFORT OF IBERIA PARISH SHERIFF LOUIS ACKAL LAST YEAR IS FACING CHARGES FOR HIS PART IN A FATAL CRASH LAST JULY. DONALD BROUSSARD IS ACCUSED OF PURSUING ANOTHER VEHICLE ON HIGHWAY 90 NEAR BROUSSARD AFTER HE WAS REAR-ENDED AND THE OTHER VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP. THE DRIVER OF THE OTHER VEHICLE, 24-YEAR-OLD RAKEEM BLAKES OF BOSSIER CITY, FAILED TO NEGOTIATE A CURVE ON THE HIGHWAY 90 SERVICE ROAD AND HIT AN 18-WHEELER. HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. BROUSSARD TURNED HIMSELF IN TO THE IBERIA PARISH JAIL YESTERDAY AFTERNOON ON CHARGES OF MANSLAUGHTER AND AGGRAVATED OBSTRUCTION OF A HIGHWAY, AND HE WAS RELEASED ON AN 85 THOUSAND DOLLAR BOND.
Legislative leaders told higher education officials they hope to fully fund the TOPS college tuition program in next year’s budget. But they stopped short of making promises. House Speaker Taylor Barras; Rep. Walt Leger, the top-ranking House Democrat; and Sen. Sharon Hewitt, who sits on the budget-writing Finance Committee said at a Monday conference that TOPS is a funding priority. Barras and Hewitt, both Republicans, say they support “scrubbing the budget” to help shift more money to TOPS.
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH PUBLIC EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS COUNCIL ANNOUNCED MONDAY THEIR FULL SUPPORT FOR A PROPOSED TEN YEAR, HALF CENT SALES TAX THAT WILL BE VOTED ON BY THE PUBLIC ON APRIL 29TH. THE ESTIMATED 194 MILLION DOLLARS GENERATED BY THE SALES TAX WILL BE USED TO REPLACE 248 TEMPORARY CLASSROOMS AT 12 SCHOOLS IN THE PARISH. THE COUNCIL’S PUBLIC POLICY CHAIR GERD WUESTEMANN SAYS THERE’S BEEN TALK FOR DECADES ABOUT THE PORTABLE BUILDINGS USED FOR CLASSROOMS, AND IT’S TIME TO STOP TALKING AND TAKE ACTION. THE COUNCIL REPRESENTS MORE THAN A DOZEN STAKEHOLDER GROUPS IN THE PARISH FROM EDUCATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MORE.
THE STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING AT THE ISLE OF CAPRI CASINO IN WESTLAKE. SERGEANT JAMES ANDERSON OF STATE POLICE TROOP D SAYS WESTLAKE POLICE WERE RESPONDING TO REPORTS OF A MAN BRANDISHING A KNIFE IN THE CASINO PARKING LOT. HE SAYS POLICE CONFRONTED THE MAN, WHO WAS SHOT AND TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR SURGERY. ANDERSON SAYS THE MAN’S INJURIES ARE NOT CONSIDERED LIFE-THREATENING.
THE ST. LANDRY PARISH ANIMAL CONTROL SHELTER HAS BEEN CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE BECAUSE OF NEEDED REPAIRS. THE SHELTER HAS HOLES IN THE CEILING THAT RATS AND CATS CAN COME THROUGH. INSULATION IS ALSO FALLING INTO THE KENNELS AND THE DRAINS. THE SHELTER’S MANAGER TELLS KATC TV THAT A NUMBER OF NATIONAL RESCUE GROUPS ARE HELPING TO RELOCATE THE ANIMALS TO BIGGER SHELTERS OUTSIDE THE PARISH.
A police officer who brandished his gun at the scene of a 6-year-old boy’s fatal shooting in Louisiana says he didn’t join two other officers in shooting at a car carrying the boy because he didn’t fear for his life. Marksville Police Lt. Kenneth Parnell was a witness for the prosecution Monday at the murder trial of Derrick Stafford, one of two deputy city marshals charged in the November 2015 shooting death of Jeremy Mardis. Parnell’s body camera captured the shooting and its bloody aftermath. Stafford’s attorneys claim he acted in self-defense when he shot at the car driven by Mardis’ father, Christopher Few, after a 2 mile chase.
