During a public hearing which preceded Tuesday’s meeting of the Turkey Creek Village Council, several villagers expressed their concerns about law enforcement in the community following an incident involving Andy Chaddrick.
Chaddrick was present at the public hearing and told the mayor and the council the incident began when he observed somebody trying to break into the home of his niece, Hannah. After leaving Hannah’s house, the guy, according to Chaddrick, “was looking through another window with a gun. He had already been to Hannah’s with a knife in his back pocket.”
Chaddrick then got into a confrontation with the attempted burglar after deputies had left. “The guy gets up in my face, so I shove him out of my face,” Chaddrick said. “When I shove him out of my face, he already has the knife open. He jerks me, and, when I go back as far as I can go, his hand glances off my shoulder. He doesn’t cut me.”
The assailant then started telling Chaddrick he was going to cut his jugular and was going to kill him. The two then separated, and Chaddrick left to meet a sheriff’s deputy to give a statement.
Chaddrick described the deputy as being lazy, laid back, and uninterested. “I didn’t see one person get excited about it,” he said. “I was the only one excited about it.”
While Chaddrick was giving the statement, the same assailant was at Chappelle’s Grocery. Eric Chappelle then told the mayor and council what transpired at his store after two village police officers arrived on scene.
“I had three phone calls about somebody doped up on a motorcycle and threatening to kill a cop and everybody else,” Chappelle said. “I grabbed my piece and came flying up there. I got out my truck, stuck my piece in my pants, and covered it up with my shirt. Right then I should have been told to put the gun back, but nobody did anything.”
“The officers stood there and let me talk to the guy,” continued Chappelle. “They asked me if I knew who he was, and I told them yea. Then they started talking about motorcycles after that. This went on for an hour and 45 minutes until Shane Lofton came up there and ended the situation.”
Chaddrick reported he called Assistant District Attorney Marcus Fontenot a day after the incident took place and was told the assailant’s bond was only set at $1,500.00.
“After he attempted to kill me, said he would kill me, pointed a gun at the neighbor, was at my niece’s house with a knife, cussed the cops in the parking lot, and said he was going to kill people in the parking lot, his bail was only $1,500.00 because no reports were written. The bail went up to $84,000.00 after that phone call.”
Discussion then broke out during the hearing over who in the village has the authority to do the hiring and firing.
Mayor Phil Cavins stated he has the authority to hire and fire police officers but “can’t hire and fire the appointed people” because they have to be voted on by the council.
More discussion broke out over the state’s Lawrason Act because Chappelle stated, “We were under the impression from people talking amongst themselves at the store that the mayor had total control of hiring and firing everybody and that the council has no say-so.”
Councilman Joey Ducote then expressed his thoughts on the problem in the village.
“The problem in the village is the amount of patrol is not adequate to the amount of officers,” Councilman Ducote said. “If we cannot fill a calendar for a week with five officers and a chief, then we need to rearrange something.”
He continued, “The amount of patrol has been an issue since January when the public voted (to have an appointed chief) to make things better. They can’t see it getting better, and neither can I. But, it needs to get better.”
Chappelle then replied, “The best we’ve ever seen was when Shane was working.”
Mayor Cavins then said he will be meeting with the judge to get Lofton back as an officer. The problem is that he has a restraining order against him where he cannot carry a firearm. The mayor further said he had hired a full-time officer to work nights and hopes to make Lofton another full-time officer to also work nights.
No further action was taken on the issues.
Image
TONY MARKS Editor