Cop’s widow files lawsuit

A year has passed since a Chitimacha tribal police officer was killed in the line of duty during a Charenton gun battle, with key questions from his grieving family still unanswered.

But a lawsuit filed last week by Sgt. Rick Riggenbach’s loved ones could lead to some answers – well before the trial of the man accused of murdering him.

The suit names St. Mary Parish Sheriff Mark Hebert as the sole defendant.

Riggenbach was felled Jan. 26, 2013 during a gun battle with Wilbert Thibodeaux, after Thibodeaux allegedly killed a friend, Eddie Lyons, and set a trailer on Lyons’ property afire.

Thibodeaux faces a possible death penalty; his lawyers are currently working on a request that he be examined for competency to stand trial.

While prosecutors were building their case Riggenbach’s widow, Bonnie, has questioned the actions of St. Mary Parish deputies who were also involved in the gun battle, accusing them of leaving her husband to die. She unsuccessfully sought to view video of the incident prosecutors obtained from the nearby Cypress Bayou Casino and at least one police car.

Papers filed in St. Mary Parish district court contain allegations that deputies abandoned Riggenbach after they were wounded and that law enforcement authorities issued a “stand down” order preventing other law enforcement officers from aiding him.  The suit alleges that those actions – or inactions – contributed to the hero officer’s death. The deputies, the suit suggests, were able to function well enough to “fled the scene” but nonetheless did not aid Riggenbach.

Hebert has consistently refused comment on those allegations, citing the ongoing proceedings against Thibodeaux.

The suit, filed by New Orleans attorney Timothy Lamy, also alleges that St. Mary Parish deputies erred when they released Thibodeaux from the St. Mary Parish jail on Jan. 22, following his arrest for making threats against the casino and Riggenbach, because he was a danger to others at the time.

Thibodeaux, according to court papers and interviews with family members and acquaintances, suffered from mental illnesses that required medication for him to be stable. But Thibodeaux may not have taken his medication for some time, interviews suggest.

The suit alleges that Matthew Strickland and Jason Javier, the deputies Riggenbach was assisting during the Jan. 26 incident, were improperly trained and thus unable to take proper action.

Neither officer has commented publicly on the incident. A relative of one of the deputies, requesting anonymity, has questioned suggestions that they left Riggenbach to die.

In one account, based on information from the deputies, the relative states that Javier was shot first and that Strickland continued “to engage Mr. Thibodeaux until he was also hit.”

Strickland was observed bleeding from the head due to what was later determined to be three shotgun balls in his face and three in his neck.

Javier, the account states, helped Strickland to their police car “and put him in the trunk.”

Javier then passed out behind the wheel and Strickland exited the trunk, driving the car away from the fray.

“There another deputy told them to get in her unit and drove them to the hospital. Jason was losing blood and Matt’s throat was swelling shut. I don’t know if that counts as ‘fleeing the scene’ or not but that is what happened,” the relative said.

Strickland and Javier, the relative said, were not aware of any “stand down” order.

The relative said Javier and Strickland were aware Riggenbach was hit but “he was down and hadn’t gotten up … I think it is the only way Jason would have left him there, if he thought there was nothing that he or Matt could do for him.”

The relative questioned why two injured deputies, “one in danger of bleeding out and the other barely able to breathe” could have helped anyone.

A candlelight vigil was held in honor of Riggenbach Sunday at the Chitimacha Police Department headquarters to commemorate the anniversary of his death.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

One way the legal action might benefit Riggenbach’s family is that the long-sought video, which could clarify what actually occurred in Charenton, will likely need to be produced despite the objection of prosecutors.

Police agencies in St. Mary Parish have refused multiple requests for dispatch logs, video and other records under Louisiana’s Public Records Act in connection with the incident, citing the provision that allows — but does not require — for them to do so if a criminal case is pending.

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