8-20-18
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS LOOKING FOR AN ESCAPED INMATE. THE ESCAPE HAPPENED LATE FRIDAY NIGHT, WHILE 33-YEAR-OLD RONRIKA BEN WAS BEING RETURNED FROM A NEARBY MEDICAL FACILITY. BEN WAS BOOKED EARLIER THIS SUMMER ON CHARGES OF DOMESTIC ABUSE BATTERY, VIOLATION OF PROTECTION ORDERS, THEFT AND AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHERE BEN IS LOCATED IS ASKED TO CALL LAFAYETTE CRIME STOPPERS AT 232-TIPS.
DERIDDER FIREFIGHTERS PUT OUT A FIRE AT THE BEST WESTERN ON NORTH PINE STREET LAST NIGHT. THEY RECEIVED THE CALL AT 5:31 AND HAD IT PUT OUT BY SEVEN. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAFELY EVACUATED EVERYONE FROM THE BUILDING. THE FIRE STARTED IN THE ATTIC OF THE DRIVE THRU AWNING ABOVE THE MAIN OFFICE.
A NINE-YEAR-OLD CHILD WAS STRUCK BY STRAY BULLETS YESTERDAY MORNING WHILE WALKING WITH THREE OTHER CHILDREN IN EUNICE. POLICE CHIEF RANDY FONTENOT SAYS SOMEONE IN A CAR FIRED SHOTS AT ANOTHER CAR, HITTING THE OTHER CAR WITH ONE BULLET, WHILE TWO OTHER ROUNDS HIT THE CHILD. FONTENOT SAYS THE CHILD IS DOING WELL AND IS IN GOOD SPIRITS. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE, BUT FONTENOT SAYS THEY ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE SUSPECT WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
The Louisiana governor has appointed a former sheriff who pleaded guilty to misusing funds and mistreating inmates to a state commission that oversees legal compliance of used car dealers. The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports former Tensas Parish Sheriff Jeff Britt has his first meeting Monday. Records show Gov. John Bel Edwards pardoned Britt last year, nearly a decade after Britt was accused of beating handcuffed inmates and using public funds to pay off his credit card.
Britt pleaded guilty in 1999 to malfeasance as part of a deal, which he says allowed him to move on.
THE 13-HUNDRED BLOCK OF SURREY STREET WILL BE CLOSED FOR SEVERAL DAYS BECAUSE OF A WATER MAIN BREAK THAT DAMAGED THE ROAD. THE CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER FOR THE LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO REPAIR THE WATER LINE AND THE ROAD FOUNDATION. NO TRAFFIC WILL BE ALLOWED IN EITHER DIRECTION ON SURREY STREET BETWEEN KATTIE DRIVE AND CHAMPAGNE STREET. THAT BLOCK IS LOCATED NORTH OF HOME FURNITURE AND MOSS MOTORS AND SOUTH OF EAST PINHOOK ROAD.
McNeese State University has named a new chief of police to oversee campus security. The university, in a news release, says William Scheufens replaces Robert Spinks, who retired in May. Scheufens has 36 years of law enforcement experience, having worked more than 30 years in the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office. He most recently served as director of security for Lake Charles Memorial Health Systems.
AT AROUND 10-30 SATURDAY NIGHT, A CROWLEY MAN WAS KILLED IN A SINGLE VEHICLE CRASH NEAR CHRIS ROAD IN ST. LANDRY PARISH. JEFF HORCHAK REPORTS.
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A researcher says the hard winter apparently killed much of an invasive weed that clogs waterways around Louisiana — but it also killed many of the weevils raised to fight it. LSU AgCenter researcher Charlie Wahl says few north Louisiana landowners or agencies have asked for weevils to eat away at giant salvinia .
He says that thick mats usually form in the spring, but this year are forming in summer. He recently released salvinia weevils in the Big Fork Bayou area near Stephensville. But he says those take months to show effects, and landowners may need more costly herbicide.
