Did Thibodaux officials have a hit list? Suit alleges officials conspired against police captain

A veteran Thibodaux police officer alleges in court papers that he was slandered and wrongfully accused of acts he did not commit because he refused to make a $5,000 contribution to a former city councilman’s campaign.

Calvin Cooks Sr., a police captain, filed the suit last week in Lafourche Parish District Court against Mayor Tommy Eschete, Councilman Varick Taylor Sr. and his son, Varick Jr., a city officer, Police Chief Scott Silverii, and police officers Ricky Ross and Jamey Fontenot. It alleges that Cooks lost his assistant chief position and was falsely accused of being the mastermind behind a mass tire-slashing incident at police headquarters.

Cooks, who still serves as a captain, said he could not comment on the suit he filed, and referred questions to his attorney, Matthew Ory. The court papers allege a conspiracy to violate Cooks’ constitutional rights.

Eschete said he had not been served with the papers and so could not comment on specific allegations in the suit. Asked whether he conspired with anyone to deprive Cooks of his rights or to otherwise punish him for not supporting or contributing to Varick’s unsuccessful campaign, or engaged in creating a “hit list” of officers who would be targets of political reprisals, the mayor said he had not.

“That’s all false,” Eschete said. “There is no truth to that whatsoever.”

Taylor vehemently denied the allegations. In an interview last week, he said Cooks was trying to give him a $5,000 contribution but was refused.

“He is lying about that,” Taylor said. “I refused a donation from Calvin.”

The suit alleges the opposite.

“Capt. Cooks was made the target of a political conspiracy because he refused to make a $5,000 campaign contribution to then candidate for Thibodaux City Council Varick Taylor Sr. during the 2006 Thibodaux City Council race,” the sworn complaint alleges. “Taylor Sr. was enraged at Cooks’ refusal to do so, and harbored festering animosity together with a desire for retribution and retaliation.”

The suit alleges that in 2010, when Eschete was running for mayor, Taylor Sr. approached him for a favor, convinced that he carried enough sway with minority voters to do so.

Witnesses, the court papers say, overheard Taylor and Eschete discussing political strategies and favors, specifically punishment of Cooks for his refusal to contribute to the Taylor campaign. Taylor lost his council seat in 2010 to challenger Constance Taylor.

The end result, the suit alleges, was a whispering campaign and then public accusations that Cooks was behind the slashing of tires on police vehicles that occurred in June, 2011. Additionally, Cooks lost his title of assistant chief, use of an unmarked police vehicle, and with it the ability because of scheduling to drive a Lafourche Parish school bus, a job he had held for many years.

Manipulating Cooks’ schedule and position to eliminate his ability to drive the school bus, the suit alleges, was among the topics discussed by Taylor and Eschete. Witnesses to those conversations and others are named in the court papers.

Silverii, Taylor and others are also accused in the suit of muscling known criminals to make statements accusing Cooks of involvement with the tire slashings. And the questions of what to do about Cooks in general was asked of several candidates for the position of police chief during interviews following Eschete’s election as mayor.

Jonathan Watkins entered guilty pleas to property damage charges in March regarding the tires. Glenn Watkins, his uncle, has charges pending. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, at Silverii’s request, conducted the investigation and determined there was no evidence that Cooks was involved.

But reports that he did were rampant in 2010, and the suit alleges that police officials specifically tipped off media outlets telling them of Cooks’ alleged involvement.

A court date for the lawsuit has not yet been set.

The alleged “hit list” – the phrase used in the court papers – was said to have been a list prepared when Eschete took office, to determine how police officers who displeased Taylor, and therefore Eschete, would be dealt with.

Taylor said he had no influence with Eschete, and that the idea of a “hit list” or of unfair treatment directed toward Cooks is ludicrous. Enmity, he said, exists because he had tried to get officials to do something about complaints from some residents that Cooks had acted inappropriately as an officer. Those complaints, prior checks with officials indicate, were never substantiated to the point of official action being taken.

“I didn’t need Calvin’s $5,000,” Taylor said. “I already had $29,000. And it doesn’t take $5,000 to run my campaign. It’s a lot of lying.”

Silveri said the allegations are “without merit.”

He said the city’s civil service scheme never recognized a position of assistant chief.

Cooks, the police chief said, has received two raises since his official title became captain, and that there never was a demotion.