Bar fight in Mamou raises red flags about police investigations, according to mother of victim

A fight broke out at a bar in Mamou which left the mother of the victim questioning the investigation of the town’s police department. The Ville Platte Gazette reached out to Chief of Police Brent Zachery, but he did not return the phone calls.
The Gazette did obtain a copy of the complaint report from the victim’s mother, Jodie Mahan. The report states an officer with the police department turned onto 6th Street after midnight on May 19 and spotted a crowd of people standing around a physical altercation between an individual later identified as Colton Chaddrick and Mahan’s son, Devon.
After breaking up the fight, according to the report, the officer placed Chaddrick in custody and interrogated Mahan as to what had caused the incident. Mahan told the officer other individuals were involved, and both individuals were later identified as Aaron Johnson and Wesley Fontenot.
Johnson and Fontenot were also placed into custody until a female came forward with a cell phone video that showed the them trying to break up the fight and separate Chaddrick and Mahan.
Mahan’s mother, Jodie, is questioning the veracity of the video shown to the police. “What’s bad is the cops are going by a video they have,” she said. “I know the video is not accurate because I have witnesses. One person doesn’t want his name in it, but he was the only one I know of who helped my son. He said he pulled one of the boys off of my son.”
All three in Chaddrick, Johnson, and Fontenot were taken to the police department for further questioning, but only Chaddrick was charged in connection with the incident. Devon was not taken into custody or charged for his involvement.
Chaddrick later admitted to the police his involvement in the altercation and stated it began following a verbal dispute and was charged with simple battery.
Jodie is also questioning why only Chaddrick was charged in connection with the incident. “The Mamou cops don’t want to hear anything I have to say,” she said. “They’re arguing with me telling me there was only one person. They won’t give me a copy of the statements to see what was said. I was told I am allowed to have these statements by someone outside of the police department.”
“It’s very frustrating,” she concluded, “because my son was by himself at the bar. He doesn’t have a big group of friends with him, so, of course, that made him an easy target. I drop him off at the bar, and he goes to the bar to dance. I feel like the police are hiding information, and I would like to see them do investigations like they should.”