Street-level drug supplier arrested
November 16, 2006
Audrey George Robinson
November 20, 2006
Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s deputies twice had to use a Taser this week to gain control of suspects, said department spokesman Larry Weidel.
A Taser propels barbs into the surface of the skin and transmits an electric shock that immediately shuts down the nervous system. “The subject falls to the ground and is temporarily stunned by an electronic impulse,” he said. “The impairment lasts only a couple of minutes and there is no residual affect.”
On Wednesday, deputies were dispatched to a drug activity call at the corner of Morristown Road and Morristown Bypass in Raceland, Weidel said.
The spokesman said Deputy Leeman Howard stopped James Samuels, 26, 725 S. Samuel Tilden, Raceland, and conducted a “stop and frisk.” The officer found several pills in Samuels’ pocket and attempted to arrest him, Weidel said. Samuels hit Howard and ran away. Weidel said the deputy chased Samuels until they came to a tall wooden fence that the Raceland man couldn’t jump.
“[Samuels] turned around and started running directly toward the deputy in an aggressive manner,” Weidel said in a news release. “Due to the area being dark and isolated, Deputy Howard deployed his Taser, striking [Samuels] in the right shoulder and the right thigh.”
Samuels was booked into the Lafourche Parish Detention Center in Thibodaux. He was charged with possession of Schedule III narcotics, resisting arrest violently and battery on a police officer.
Weidel said Samuels had a prior arrest in 2002 for possession of a weapon by a felon.
State District Judge Bruce Simpson set bond at $5,750, which Samuels posted the same day, Weidel said.
In a separate incident in Matthews, Howard responded to a disturbance call and again had to deploy his Taser to subdue a suspect.
Weidel said a family member called the LPSO, telling dispatchers that his grandson was acting crazy and was armed with a large pipe wrench. Two deputies and a state police trooper responded, only to find Chad Breaux, 27, 292 Wilson St., Raceland, holding a 24-inch pipe wrench over his head and screaming at officers to shoot him, the spokesman said.
Breaux’s grandfather was trying to hold the Raceland man back but was unable to, Weidel said. Breaux pulled away and suddenly attempted to attack the officers, he said. Howard deployed his Taser, striking Breaux in the upper torso and left pelvic area, he said.
Once he was disarmed and safely apprehended, Breaux told officers that he was on crystal meth and had been awake for over four days, Weidel said. The spokesman said Breaux continued to plead with officers to kill him.
Breaux was booked into the LPSO Detention Center in Thibodaux where he remains in lieu of a $1,000 bond. He was charged with three counts of aggravated battery and resisting arrest. Breaux has no prior criminal record, Weidel said.
