6-13-18
A DUSON WOMAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR HELPING IN A SCAM THAT ORIGINATED IN NIGERIA. ACCORDING TO THE SCOTT POLICE DEPARTMENT, A VICTIM SENT MONEY TO A POTENTIAL EMPLOYER FOR START-UP COSTS, BUT IT WAS RE-ROUTED TO NIGERIA. 60-YEAR-OLD JOAN BREAUX ADMITTED TO INVESTIGATORS THAT SHE COLLECTED THE MONEY FROM WESTERN UNION AND THEN FORWARDED IT TO NIGERIA, KEEPING A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE FOR HER SERVICES. THERE ARE POTENTIALLY MORE VICTIMS TO BE IDENTIFIED BECAUSE BREAUX TOLD AUTHORITIES SHE HAD HELPED THE SCAMMER NEARLY A DOZEN TIMES.
WARD THREE LAKE CHARLES MARSHAL JOEY ALCEDE SAW HIS INCOME MORE THAN DOUBLE LAST YEAR, FROM AROUND 187 THOUSAND IN 2016 TO MORE THAN 442 THOUSAND LAST YEAR. ALCEDE EXPLAINS THAT IT’S BECAUSE HE FOUND OUT THAT VEHICLE REPOSSESSION FEES THAT WERE SUPPOSE TO GO TO THE MARSHAL HAVE BEEN GOING TO THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE INSTEAD. HE SAYS THAT WAS CORRECTED LAST YEAR AFTER HE MET WITH SHERIFF TONY MANCUSO. ALCEDE IS RETIRING AT THE END OF THIS YEAR.
AN OPELOUSAS MAN HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF HITTING HIS WIFE’S VEHICLE WITH HIS VAN AND BEATING HER WITH A PIPE. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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Thousands on a waitlist will soon start receiving aid from a Louisiana program that helps low-income parents pay for child care while at work, in school or in job training. An infusion of nearly $40 million in federal money will add more people into the Child Care Assistance Program. The program has 15,000 children enrolled. But it has been battered by reductions for a decade, swelling its waitlist to about 5,200 children.
RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS ALONG UNIVERSITY AVENUE GOT A LOOK YESTERDAY AT PLANS TO REVITALIZE THE AREA BETWEEN RENAUD DRIVE, JUST NORTH OF I-TEN, AND CAMERON STREET. IT WAS ANNOUNCED LAST MONTH THAT THE AREA QUALIFIED FOR FEDERAL OPPORTUNITY ZONE TAX CREDITS, WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN HIGH POVERTY AREAS. C-S-R-S CONSULTANTS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A DRAFT PLAN FOR THAT AREA BY ASKING RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE. A FINAL PLAN WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE ACADIANA PLANNING COMMISSION IN A FEW WEEKS AND MAYOR-PRESIDENT JOEL ROBIDEAUX SAYS HE HOPES WORK TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN WILL BEGIN BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
THE JEFF DAVIS PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAS ARRESTED A KINDER MAN AND HIS DAUGHTER ON BANK FRAUD CHARGES. CHIEF DEPUTY CHRIS IVEY SAYS 18-YEAR-OLD SARAH MARIE GARTMAN AND 39-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH PHILLIP GARTMAN DEPOSITED A 300 DOLLAR CHECK USING A CELLPHONE APPLICATION ON APRIL TENTH. HE SAYS THEY ALTERED THE CHECK AND DEPOSITED IT INTO A DIFFERENT ACCOUNT AT A BANK AND AGAIN INTO ANOTHER ACCOUNT. THE DAUGHTER, SARAH, FACES NUMEROUS CHARGES BESIDES BANK FRAUD, WHILE THE FATHER, JOSEPH, HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH THEFT.
CROWLEY POLICE HAVE ARRESTED A MAN IN CONNECTION WITH A WEEKEND SHOOTING THAT LEFT TWO PEOPLE WOUNDED. THERE WERE FOUR OCCUPANTS IN A VEHICLE ON WESTWOOD DRIVE WHEN GUNSHOTS WERE FIRED AT IT. 29-YEAR-OLD TRAYLON LEWIS HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH FOUR COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED SECOND DEGREE MURDER. LEWIS IS BEING HELD AT THE ACADIA PARISH JAIL ON A 200 THOUSAND DOLLAR BOND.
A soldier has pleaded guilty to making and detonating explosives that released chlorine gas in a forest near an Army base in Louisiana last year. U.S. Attorney David Joseph’s office says 24-year-old Ryan Keith Taylor, of New Llano, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty Monday to producing, possessing and using a chemical weapon. Authorities said Taylor set off explosives that released toxic gas into the air in the Kisatchie National Forest, adjacent to Fort Polk, on April 12, 2017. A court filing says a military police investigator felt his skin burning while collecting samples at the blast site.
