PORT BARRE — A Port Barre High School student has been booked with battery on a school teacher and public intimidation just as school was letting out for Thanksgiving holiday break on Nov. 16.
The Daily World reports 18-year-old L’Tredrick Charles Roberts, of Opelousas, became “verbally combative and aggressive” with Assistant Principal Barbara Roberson as she dismissed students from the school’s bleachers that afternoon. Roberts was allegedly swearing and ordering Roberson to move out of the way.
Seth Ortego, a coach with the school who is also a trained reserve sheriff’s deputy and police officer, stepped in between the two.
Roberts was booked into the Port Barre jail. He was released on bond Nov. 21.
3 New Orleans officers fired
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans city officials say three police officers have been fired for allegedly violating the department’s truthfulness policy.
One officer, a 29-year veteran, was fired after an investigation into his being asleep in his uniform one afternoon in his personal vehicle. The officer allegedly failed to tell investigators that at the time he had been hired to work a private security detail.
Two other officers were dismissed for allegedly lying about their use of electronic stun devices. Both had claimed they used the devices on an armed man. However, the city says in its Wednesday news release that a video recording showed the man was unarmed and did not pose a threat of bodily harm when the devices were used.
Doyline residents encouraged
to evacuate today
DOYLINE — Residents of the northwest Louisiana town of Doyline are being encouraged to plan to leave home tonight and stay away throughout the weekend.
Authorities will be moving 1 million pounds of an explosive powder from Explo Systems Inc., a munitions dismantling company at Camp Minden.
Authorities say the powder, an explosive propellant used in military ammunitions, is not an imminent threat, but should have been housed in a bunker approved by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It also should have been registered with the Louisiana State Police explosives division.
State police investigators found the explosives during an inspection of property leased by Explo Systems, where an above-ground magazine storage facility exploded last month.
The process to move the powder will begin around 6 a.m. Saturday.
Grant man facing charges involving juveniles
ALEXANDRIA — An Allen Parish man is facing dozens of charges stemming from a complaint that he was involved in an inappropriate relationship with juveniles.
Robert Lee Grimes of Grant, 47, was arrested Tuesday in the Pineville area by the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force and Rapides deputies.
Warrants for Grimes’ arrest had been issued after an investigation that started on Oct. 29.
Grimes was booked with 21 counts of indecent behavior with juveniles, 11 counts of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and 32 counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. He was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.
Ex-Slaughter alderman facing ethics charges
BATON ROUGE — Former Slaughter Alderman Thomas Boothe faces state ethics charges related to his alleged misuse of public office.
The Advocate reports the Louisiana Board of Ethics posted the charges on its website Wednesday and asked the Ethics Adjudicatory Board to conduct a hearing on the allegations.
The counts stem from events during and following a May 6, 2011, traffic stop.
Two Slaughter police officers had detained a resident of the town. The Ethics Board alleges then-Alderman Boothe arrived at the scene. He disobeyed a warning to leave and was later arrested.
Boothe could not be reached for comment. The telephone listing for his home had been disconnected.
Boothe served two terms as a member of the Board of Aldermen in Slaughter from June 2004 to June 2012.
Water Institute of Gulf hires director
BATON ROUGE — A well-known coastal researcher has been hired as director of the Water Institute of the Gulf’s physical processes and sediment systems.
Mead Allison was associate director of the Jackson School of Geosciences’ Institute for Geophysics at University of Texas at Austin, and has researched river delta systems for almost 25 years.
Chip Groat, chief executive officer and president of The Water Institute, tells The Advocate Mead brings a wealth of applied and practical experience to the Institute’s research team.
Allison will be a professor at Tulane University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in addition to working at The Water Institute.
Formed in 2011, the Water Institute is a nonprofit independent research group involved in coordinating research needs for coastal restoration and planning in Louisiana.
Iberia council changes garbage contract
NEW IBERIA — The Iberia Parish Council voted 9-3 to pass a resolution altering its contract with garbage collection company IESI so the parish saves more than $115,000 over four years.
As part of the resolution, the council also changed the waste transfer station company from a locally owned facility run by parish resident Gordon Doyle to a facility that IESI owns in Lafayette Parish.
The Advocate reports Doyle walked out of Wednesday’s meeting after the vote. He told the council he would have to lay off workers if the change in contract takes place.
Duncan said should any layoffs take place, IESI staff members have said they would hire the out-of-work employees as the workload will increase.
Teacher booked with molestation
FARMERVILLE — An investigation into a family disturbance has led to a Union Parish high school teacher being arrested on four counts of molestation of a juvenile.
The News-Star reports 41-year-old Bridgette Lynette Murphy Gean of Farmerville was booked Tuesday into the Union Parish Detention Center.
Sheriff Bob Buckley said detectives’ investigation revealed Gean had sexual relations with a 16-year-old male juvenile who at the time 11 months ago was a student at Downsville High School.
Buckley says deputies had worked a domestic abuse case Saturday night at Gean’s residence where she denied any altercation had taken place. However, her husband told deputies that his wife was beating on him.
Vehicular homicide arrest in I-10 fatality
LAFAYETTE — A 21-year-old Lafayette man is facing charges of vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle while intoxicated following his arrest in connection with a Nov. 3 fatal crash on Interstate 10.
The Advertiser reports Joey Fontenot was arrested Tuesday.
Police says the arrest was based on the continuing investigation into the crash and on a toxicology report.
The man who died in the crash was identified as 25-year-old Kelly Theriot of St. Martinville.
Police say Theriot’s pickup hit Fontenot’s truck from behind.
Investigators say Fontenot was stopped on the interstate when the crash occurred.
It was unclear whether Fontenot has an attorney.
N.O. police officer arrested in theft case
NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans police officer has been arrested for allegedly stealing a gift card from an armed robbery victim’s purse.
A news release from the city says 31-year-old April Moses was booked into Orleans Parish Prison at 8:12 p.m. Thursday on charges of theft and malfeasance.
A Public Integrity Bureau investigation revealed that Moses left her assignment on Sunday and bought $85 worth of goods at a Target store in Metairie. Police say the purse was turned into 8th District front desk while Moses was working.
The victim called the district station to report that the stolen gift card had been used.
Police say an FBI agent assisted in the investigation.
Ex-La. accountant gets prison in fraud scheme
NEW ORLEANS — A former Mandeville accountant has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for stealing more than $170,000 from an oilfield consulting business and defrauding a hair salon on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain out of at least $40,000.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. on Wednesday sentenced 61-year-old Anthony Tulli to 41 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims.
Tulli also pleaded guilty in October 2011 to failing to submit more than $800,000 in federal taxes to the IRS for a scrap metal company also based on the north shore.
Sheriff’s office to pay
for employees’ degrees
THIBODAUX — Lafourche Parish deputies will soon have a chance to get an associate degree in criminal justice from Fletcher Technical Community College and the cost of tuition and fees will picked up by the sheriff’s office.
Under the system, the sheriff’s office will pay for the program for any employee who keeps a “C” average or better, starting in 2013.
Sheriff Craig Webre said in a news release he hopes it will lead to a team that is more up to date on cutting-edge law enforcement technology and techniques.
Ex-N.O. official gets prison in Katrina plot
NEW ORLEANS — A former New Orleans city councilman has been sentenced to six months in prison for plotting to misuse federal money intended to help a nonprofit organization after Hurricane Katrina.
U.S. District Judge Lance Africk also on Thursday sentenced Jon Johnson to six months of home detention and ordered him to pay more than $79,000 in restitution to the federal government.
Johnson pleaded guilty in July to diverting funds from a nonprofit he controlled to his 2007 campaign for state Senate.
A court filing outlined more than $140,000 in grant money earmarked for the Ninth Ward Housing Development Corp. but didn’t specify exactly how much Johnson stole.
Johnson also pleaded guilty to submitting false documents to the Small Business Administration after receiving a loan for repairing storm damage to his home.
Johnson, who also was fined $5,000, must report to prison by Jan. 8.
His attorney, Julian Murray, told reporters he does not know how the government arrived at a restitution figure of $79,691.
He said Johnson and his wife put hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into the nonprofit.
Callon Petroleum to sell share of offshore project
NATCHEZ, Miss. — Callon Petroleum Co. says it will sell its share of an oil field to Royal Dutch Shell PLC for $42 million.
The Mississippi company will sell its 11.25 percent interest in the Habanero field to Shell Offshore, planning to close the deal before year end.
The field, in 2,000 feet of water about 200 miles southeast of New Orleans, began production 2003.
Habanero represented 9 percent of Callon’s production in October. Shell Offshore operates the field and owns 55 percent. Murphy Oil holds the remaining 33.75 percent. The field produces close to 3,000 barrels of oil and 4.3 million cubic feet of natural gas each day.
Callon says it will use the money to pay down debt, giving it flexibility to continue expanding in Texas’ Permian Basin.
Boyfriend, mother are arrested in child’s death
LAFAYETTE — Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputies have arrested two people in the death of a 3-year-old boy who investigators believe was physically abused.
The Advertiser reports 21-year-old Landon Broussard was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center Thursday on a first-degree murder charge.
The Sheriff’s Office said Broussard is the boyfriend of the child’s mother, 22-year-old Laura Smith. She was also arrested and booked as a principal to first-degree murder.
Kip Judice, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, says no specific cause of death has been identified, and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
Judice said fresh injuries and healing injuries indicate the child had been the victim of prolonged abuse.
Beach Boys to headline free pre-bowl concert
NEW ORLEANS — The Beach Boys and English rock band Bad Company are headlining a free concert outside the Superdome the night before next month’s New Orleans Bowl game.
It’ll be The Beach Boys’ second time in New Orleans this year. The California band celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reunion tour that included a stop at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April.
Bad Company was formed in the early 1970s, and its hits include the group’s namesake single, “Bad Company” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”
The free concert will take place in Champion’s Square, the public open-air space outside the Superdome, at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21.
The New Orleans Bowl game is Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. That’s when the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will represent the Sun Belt Conference at the bowl for the second year in a row. The Ragin’ Cajuns will play either Rice or East Carolina.
depending on the outcome of this Saturday’s Conference USA championship game.
Billy Ferrante, executive director of the New Orleans Bowl, says the weekend will be a celebration of the city’s love of music and sports. He also announced that R+L Carriers shipping service, the official sponsor of the New Orleans Bowl, has extended its sponsorship of the event for five years.
From The Associated Press.
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