CRIME & SAFETY

We're learning more about a Grand Coteau police officer who was fired then placed on administrative leave.

The Lafayette Police Department was called out to the 2000 block of the NE Frontage Road around 8:00 pm on Thursday, November 30, 2023, in reference to a shooting in progress. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male victim suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg. During the...

This article contains AI-assisted content. Lafayette, Louisiana - Jeremiah Micah Deare, 37, and Sarah Elaine Fogle, 30, both of Broussard, have been found guilty on all counts after a three-day trial found the couple guilty of conspiring to deal firearms without a license, making false statements in records required to be kept by a licensed firearms dealer, and failing to file sales reports in connection with their Lafayette-based firearms business. The indictment seeks forfeiture of 619 firearms involved in these offenses.

Hurt, broken, and angry are words Prejean uses when thinking about the loss of her brother. She said "his murder did not have to happen" had the bond for the suspect in his murder, not been lowered.

Two women were arrested on a traffic stop Monday night after they were stopped by Ruston Police. Johnae Thomas, 22, of Lafayette, was stopped on Tech Farm Road by a RPD patrol supervisor about 8:30 p.m. Monday for not displaying a license plate. Thomas initially gave the name Jordan Williams, explaining she did not have her driver’s license with her. A records check failed to locate a license under that name.

A St. Martinville man has been arrested after an investigation into murder for hire.

CHURCH POINT, La. — The Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office has released the name of the victim of a deadly home invasion in Church Point the day before Thanksgiving. Sheriff K.P. Gibson said Daryl Lewis, 35, was found outside the house suffering from a gunshot wound and later died at the hospital.

The search continues for a missing boater on Mermentau River. The 49-year-old man disappeared after a Thanksgiving deer hunting trip. Despite the discovery of a body in a nearby waterway, authorities are yet to confirm any connection. The investigation and search efforts persist.

An 11-year-old female has been arrested in connection to the homicide of 36-year-old Kameran Bedsole.

For several hours Friday afternoon, University was closed between Versailles and Congress after a car hit a utility pole and overturned.

Abbeville Chief of Police Mike Hardy is reminding residents to secure ATVs properly. Hardy made the reminder after Councilman Carlton Campbell brought up an issue during a recent Abbeville City Council meeting. “I’m getting a lot of complaints about kids riding four-wheelers on the streets at 3 and 4 in...

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - A former owner of ZZ's Kitchen in Abbeville, Louisiana, has been convicted for using his restaurant to store and deal fentanyl in the area. In a case that caught the attention of US Drug Enforcement Administration investigators, 41-year-old Gabriel Hawthorne worked with two others who were also indicted - Frederick Malaki Thornton and then-girlfriend Andrea Mitchell - to distribute heroin and fentanyl in the Abbeville area. Court documents point to a series of incidents in March 2022 when an individual exchanged phone calls and text messages with Mitchell, with her agreeing to sell heroin to that person. Mitchell explained to authorities that Hawthorne would mix the heroin before supplying it to her to sell. That sold heroin was seized and sent to the DEA Laboratory where a positive test for fentanyl was confirmed.

Lafayette, La (KADN) -- The suspect in one of last week's deadly shootings at a Lafayette motel has died of a self-inflicted gunshot, police say. It happened during a standoff Tuesday morning. Investigators say Clifton Washington, 34, was identified as the suspect in the shooting death of Nancy Herrick, 39,...

LAFAYETTE, La. — The Lafayette Fire Department has released the name and cause of death of the victim of a huge house fire on Evangeline Thruway that happened on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Fire officials identified the victim as Anthony Taylor, 28, who is originally from New Orleans but had...

With the two recent killings at the Plantation Inn, the hub city has logged murders this year. Nearly breaking the city’s record set in 2021 with more than a month remaining in 2023.

UPDATE#2 Lafayette, LA – On November 28, 2023 the suspect wanted in connection with the shooting that occurred on November 22, 2023 in the 2800 block of NE Evangeline Thruway has been arrested. The suspect arrested was Carrol A. Steno III on an arrest warrant for one count of second degree murder.

Michelle Breaux says she is sick to her stomach after finding out the person responsible for her brother's murder five years ago, has been out of our prison and is wanted for the murder of someone else.

Lafayette, La (KADN) -- A second person is now facing federal charges in a wide-ranging bribery investigation involving the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office. According to a bill of information filed in federal court Tuesday, Joseph Prejean, of Church Point, is accused of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. Prosecutors say he provided bribes to officials in the DA's office in exchange for favorable actions in his business dealings with the office.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - Louisiana State Police are asking you to be cautious as another scam aimed at victimizing people is using their name to do so. The scamming business is at an all-time high in the US. AARP points out $8.8 billion was reported lost by consumers to scams and fraud in 2022. That's up 30 percent from 2021, according to newly released numbers from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). That figure is also over two times more than in 2020.

The owner of a contractor involved in the Lafayette DA's pretrial diversion program has been formally charged in federal court, records show.