2 officers fired; DA reviewing the case

Like the butterfly’s wingbeat that spawns a hurricane wind, a dispute between mother and son last week launched a series of actions and reactions that have profoundly affected not only the individuals involved but the community at large, and few heroes have emerged.

Citizen-shot video of interaction between the son, Christopher Lee Verdin Jr. and Terrebonne Parish deputy Joseph Cehan III, has reached viral status on Facebook, with 212,000 views as of Monday morning.

The clash occurred after Verdin’s mother, Donna Lowery, called police claiming her son was high on something and uncontrollable, that he had fired a gun near her and at the family dog, struck the dog and was heading north from her home on Grand Caillou Road with the weapon on him. Cehan, Cook and other officers encountered Verdin, arrested and disarmed him without incident and brought him back to his mother’s house. Once there Cehan and Verdin exchanged angry words and profanities. Cehan forcibly removed the youth from the back seat of his patrol car and removed the handcuffs from him, taunting him to strike him.

Verdin was booked for animal cruelty, weapons charges and on three existing traffic warrants.

Within 48 hours Cehan and another deputy, Charles J. Cook, lost their jobs.

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Higher Standards

Sheriff Jerry Larpenter has taken sharp criticism from their supporters, while the badge of his department has lost some luster through the words of detractors. As of Monday 1,610 people had logged support on the website change.org for a petition to Larpenter seeking reinstatement of both deputies, some citing sympathy for the tough work officers in the field perform, and how such a step might relate to a mis-step. Larpenter is not budging.

“If you can’t handle it you don’t need to be there and you don’t need to be on the streets,” Larpenter said. “You have people with opinions that don’t get the whole truth. You’ve got a bad guy that needs an ass-whipping, it needs to be from somebody else not a police officer. We are not there to beat people up, that’s not our job. … These officers violated our policies in their lack of professionalism and their attitude.”

The youth has been publicly labeled a “meth-head” and worse in an avalanche of publicly seen social media posts even though no drug charges are involved with the case that keeps him jailed. And his father – now free on bond – faces a criminal charge because of angry social media posts perceived to be threats against police.

Video of the incident and other relevant evidence are under review by District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. so that he can determine what if any laws were broken during the encounter between Cehan and Verdin.

Cehan’s body camera – on and functioning during the initial arrest – was not activated while Verdin was being transported to his mother’s home, and was not activated until after the confrontation.

Cook’s camera was on during the arrest and while he was at the mother’s home, but was off during the confrontation between Verdin and Cehan.

Interviews with Larpenter, ranking deputies who investigated the case, review of officer body camera video as well as relatives and friends of the Verdin youth provide a 360 degree view of events which indeed show that there is more to it than meets the camera’s eye, or anyone else’s.

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Hard Worker

For Chris Jr. Saturday, May 13 started out as achingly routine.

Guests of Donna Lowery, his mother, and RoseAnn Duplantis, his grandmother, Verdin spent some time in idle conversation with his girlfriend, Frankie Jo Duplantis, before heading for the David Chauvin Seafood Company dock, where he had been working for the prior two weeks.

As was their custom, the Chauvins paid him his week’s wages the night before, cashing his paycheck for him. He repaid his grandmother $10 that he owed her.

“That Friday evening we were supposed to go to town,” Frankie Jo said. “But we didn’t. He showered after work and we watched Netflix. He was in a good mood. We were going to cook fish at my mama’s but he was too tired so we blew it off.”

The next morning he went back to work, driving a pickup. As was his custom, Chris Jr. took his .45 pistol with him, placing it in the glove compartment of the truck, Frankie Jo said. The pistol had been purchased from a friend at a cheap price.

The job at the dock was going well, although the work was hard. Chris Jr.’s employers had nothing but good things to say about his performance.

“He had just started working with us for maybe two weeks,” said Kimberly Chauvin. “He was one of the hardest workers and very respectful to us, ‘yes ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir, thank you.’ He was prompt and always looking for extra hours. When we needed something, he was the first to jump up and get at it. He was the kind of worker that you look for when you need to get things done.”

There was a side of Chris Jr. that the Chauvins and a number of other people did not see, according to his younger brother Gage, and others who are close to him. When confronted with frustration he had a temper, and while not violent, he could be insistent and argumentative.

Things had gotten testy at the house on Grand Caillou Road, with disagreements over the number of animals kept on the property by Chris Jr. and Frankie Jo, as well as a big concern on the part of his mother about drug use.

“That is one thing is when he gets mad there’s no talking to him,” said Frankie Jo. “The only person he will listen to is his step-mom, Kathy. She did raise him. And it takes a lot to get Chris’ trust. Everything that he does and learns is from his dad, he is an exact copy of his dad, they do everything the same.”

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Twine and a Gun

Reacting swiftly to transgressions is one attribute shared by father and son, all in the family agree. But so too are generosity and kindness.

“He has a big heart, like his dad,” Frankie Jo said.

While Chris Jr. was staying at his mother’s home – where his brother Gage lives – arguments broke out between the brothers, according to Frankie Jo.

“Miss Donna didn’t know how to handle them when that happened, she didn’t know what to do,” Frankie Jo said. “If they would fight she would freak out.”

Donna Lowery was approached for comment but has refused to speak with The Times.

Chris Jr. appeared on good terms with his brother and everyone else that Saturday.

He returned home from work in the pickup, two ice chests of shrimp given by captains whose boats he had cleaned in the back.

He and his brother added water to the ice that the shrimp were packed in. Gage went to chop wood in the nearby forest for a bonfire they would have later that night. Frankie went into the house and there was a discussion.

“He thought I was getting a little too comfortable with us staying there, and that he didn’t plan for it to be so long,” she said.

Chris Jr. went to the back of the house to repair a dog cage that his younger sister had used, annoyed at the need. He had a spool of twine in his hand. Frankie Jo said she doesn’t remember seeing him with a wrench or any other tool. He did have the .45, she said, stuck inside his pants.

“After he was done he wanted to target shoot with Gage,” Frankie Jo said.

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A Shot is Fired

Lowery – described by family members as a hard-working woman who holds down two jobs in addition to running her household and caring for her mother – returned from one of them. She went to where Chris Jr. was working on the cage and an argument erupted, initially, Frankie Jo said, over the number of animals he was keeping at the house.

Chris Jr. became angry, and while Frankie Jo said she didn’t see what happened next, she heard a shot.

She later said Chris Jr. had fired the gun, but not at a dog or Lowery. She said the dog, during the argument, had jumped on Chris Jr. but that in later conversations with her he had denied doing anything more than pushing the dog away.

If that is indeed what occurred, it was more than enough for Lowery. She stormed into the house, according to Frankie Jo, with Chris storming in after her, Lowery ordering the two of them out of the house, to get their things and leave, telling them she was calling the police, Chris Jr. left, heading north on Grand Caillou Road on foot.

When she called the Sheriff’s Office Lowery was in tears, and clearly distressed. She sounds very afraid.

“Send the cops fast,” she said. “My son is tripping out I don’t know what he’s tripping out on. He tried to shoot the dog, hit the dog with the crescent wrench … he said he took crystal meth.”

Frankie Jo said her boyfriend told his mother no such thing. Other family members said he might have said something sarcastic, that he would leave and go do crystal meth.

During the call Lowery fretted that her other son – cutting wood in the forest – could be in danger. She said Chris Jr. had a history of crystal meth use, something nearly everyone else in the family disputes, and said that was why he lost the house he and Frankie Jo had been living in.

The time was 6:45 p.m. Dispatchers assigned Deputy Joe Cehan, in TPSO Unit 110, to the scene. As he rushed there, listening to the descriptions a dispatcher gave him of the phone call from Lowery, who was still on the line, he communicated with Deputy Charles Cook, who was in the Houma area.

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Textbook arrest

Deputies Cehan and Cook had started out on patrol early that Saturday, both starting work at about 5 p.m. Cehan, in TPSO Unit 110, had a partner, a new deputy under field training named Cody Guilbeaux. Cook rode solo in Unit 145.

Cehan and Guilbeaux responded to a miscellaneous animal complaint at 5:16 p.m., at 1716 Grand Caillou Road. They then responded to a complaint of juveniles acting up at Lafayette Woods Park at 5:32 p.m. There was a break for them until 6:44, when they were dispatched to the Verdin complaint.

Cook had no assignments until he was also dispatched to the Verdin call.

“They violated our policy so far as driving,” Larpenter said. “Driving over 100 miles per hour to get there, to the complaint. We don’t want out officers to kill themselves. You don’t need to be endangering your lives or other peoples’ lives. You can’t help anybody if you don’t get there.”

As they careened down Grand Caillou Road, Cehan discussed tactics with Guilbeaux, telling him how the arrest would go down. Knowing that the suspect was armed increased the tension, but the camera shows a cool attitude nonetheless.

Chris Jr. was spotted and was ordered over the car’s loudspeaker to get down.

“Do not move,” he was ordered.

Chris Jr. complied, and Cehan is seen approaching the prone suspect, who complied with all requests. The gun was recovered, Chris Jr. was handcuffed and helped up, then walked to Unit 110 while his Miranda warnings were administered. In addition to the gun, the deputies found a pocket scale, the type used to weigh marijuana. Cook had run the gun numbers on the radio to a dispatcher, and he told Cehan it was not reported stolen. As Chris Jr. was placed in the car, Cook had some questions.

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Well-known scene

Asked his name, Chris Jr. replied “you should know my name you just talked to my mom.”

Asked what happened, the youth replied “why don’t you tell me what happened?”

With Chris Jr. seated in the back of the unit, Cehan put the car in gear. His body camera went off.

According to Frankie Jo – based on her conversations with Chris Jr. – Cehan taunted him verbally, telling him he was not much of a drug dealer, and asking if his mother was a liar.

Protocol, Larpenter said, should have been to take Chris Jr. to jail immediately. There was no need to bring him to his mother’s home, a quarter mile from where he was picked up.

The patrol cars – Cook’s first – pulled into the driveway, and Cehan left Chris Jr. handcuffed in the vehicle.

As Lowery related her complaint, Gage piped up a protest. His brother, he said, was a good shot, and if he had fired at the dog he would have hit the dog.

Cook ordered Gage Verdin to leave the area, in a profanity-laced directive, threatening to lock him up as well.

Both officers went back to the patrol unit, and Cehan is alleged to have removed a clipboard from its hatch. He then walked toward the left side door, where Chris Jr. was seated. It was then that it was alleged Chris Jr. was kicking at the driver door; Cehan opened the door. A moment later the verbal altercation began, captured on video not by a deputy’s body camera but on Frankie Jo’s father’s cell phone.

What happened next – Chris Jr.’s challenge to Cehan that the cuffs be removed for battle, that Cehan remove his badge, and the deputy pulling the youth from the back of the car, has been seen by many eyes.

The suggestion that the handcuffs were removed from an arguably dangerous suspect to facilitate a switch to the cuffs of another deputy doesn’t hold water, senior deputies said. The officers are trained to place the other set of cuffs on the person while he or she is still wearing the first pair.

The accusation that Chris Jr. spit at an officer is not supported by what is seen on video, other than the suggestion, some supervisors said, that the spitting occurred during the shouting match involuntarily.

In either event, Chris Jr. was not charged with battery of a police officer, which is often done when spitting is intentional.

“We can’t confirm or deny that,” a senior officer said. “We clearly don’t see.”

What could be clearly seen was enough – coupled with other information – for both Cehan and Cook to be fired.

Cook did not return a message seeking comment.

The dog was examined by Cook at the scene, and it did not require veterinary care, according to the report.

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“It’s my Choice”

Cehan’s father, a Terrebonne Parish employee and former parish councilman, declined to communicate about the matter when requested to do so on Sunday.

“I spoke with Joe last night,” the elder Cehan said. “At this time he has asked immediate family and friends not to comment. He has put this behind him and does not want his name back in the paper/news. He is just moving forward and wants to put this in the past.”

Chris Verdin Jr. will have a day in court for his side of the story to be heard, although there has been discussion between family members about the veracity of the initial complaint.

Chris Verdin Sr. asked his ex-wife to amend her complaint, and there was a follow-up text conversation posted on Facebook and provided to The Times by Verdin.

“So you are not going to go to the district attorney and tel them he didn’t really shoot at the dog?” Verdin wrote. “Because you and I both know he really wouldn’t shoot at the damn dog. At least clear him on that. As long as they take that charge away I can get him out and we can get help.”

Lowery replied “I went today … they told me it was outta my control and it’s my choice to testify or not in court..”

A check with District Attorney’s office logs shows no contact from Chris Verdin Jr.’s mother.

Christopher Verdin Sr. has his own criminal charge to answer, in connection with comments made on Facebook that he says were in anger over bad things people were posting about his son.

“I am not that kind of individual,” he said. “I would never want real violence or blood, I know there are consequences. I don’t wish harm on nobody. I was frustrated when I saw the video. I didn’t even know the officers’ names. As for my son, he is a good worker with a good head on his shoulders. He has made mistakes. They do stupid things but he is a great kid and a great hard worker.” •

Viral video