OPELOUSAS, ST. LANDRY, LA — Man charged after defacing St. Landry Confederate Monument.
Don Leger (66) of Anthony Ave in Opelousas, turned himself into the St. Landry Parish Jail after a warrant was issued for his arrest on allegations that he defaced a public monument at the Opelousas Courthouse.
On January 2, 2023, Parish President Jessie Bellard was informed of an incident where an individual defaced the confederate monument on the Courthouse Square. The Confederate Monument had previously been scheduled to be transported to another location in the coming weeks.
Upon reviewing security cameras it was shown that a blue GMC truck arrived on the courthouse square during the early hours of January 2, 2023. The suspect attempted to pull the monument down with a rope attached to their truck. After failing, the suspect then left the scene and returned later that morning to deface the monument with black paint. A license plate could not be identified on the CCTV at that time.
That same day, Jessie Bellard made a plea on Facebook to help locate the owner of the truck that matched the description in the footage. On January 3, 2023, Bellard received an anonymous phone call identifying a truck that matched the description and also had the “rope” still attached to the truck.
After identifying the owner of the truck, the Opelousas Police Department was notified of the identity of the suspect. Additional evidence and statements were obtained, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Don Leger. He turned himself in on January 5, 2023, and has since been booked in the St. Landry Parish Jail.
Although the monument was previously owned by St. Landry Parish Government, the St. Landry Council has since donated it, by resolution, to a separate organization. The organization has stated that they plan to press charges against Leger.
The monument is set to be moved very soon to its new location at Camp Moore Confederate Cemetery and Museum around Kentwood, LA.
St. Landry Now will have more on this story soon.
CCTV images of the suspect’s truck on the courthouse square at the time the monument was vandalized. (Photographs provided by St. Landry Parish Government)
