BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
State District Court documents indicate that the three felony charges filed this week against Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlanc allege that he failed to perform his duties as a police officer following a Dec. 22 shooting incident that injured him and his wife.
LeBlanc has been arrested with one count of malfeasance in office, obstruction of justice and failure to seek assistance — all felony charges — in connection with the nighttime incident that occurred at the home of Opelousas police officer Savannah Butler.
Members of a General Services Committee meeting held Wednesday were told by City Attorney Travis Broussard that LeBlanc does not intend to resign his position as chief.
Broussard added that neither the Board of Aldermen nor Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor have the authority to remove LeBlanc from office.
According to an arrest affidavit filed into court records in connection with his arrest, LeBlanc allegedly denied a request from his wife, Crystal LeBlanc, to seek medical assistance and tells her to leave after she was shot in the left shoulder allegedly by Butler.
An investigative report by St. Landry Parish detective James Bergeron also shows on audio tape footage obtained from a home security camera system that Graig LeBlanc, who also suffered a bullet wound, tells his wife not to inform anyone about the incident that occurred in a rear area outside the home of Butler.
“Knowing that he and Crystal suffered serious bodily injuries, at no time did Graig give assistance to Crystal nor did he seek to contact or report the need of medical assistance. Graig verbally instructed Crystal not to report the incident, therefore hindering and delaying the communication of the crime to law enforcement. This action also included the with holding of testimony. As a law enforcement officer, Graig failed to perform his duty and subjected Crystal to deprivation of her right to seek immediate medical attention, knowing that she had a serious bodily injury. Crystal ultimately solicited the assistance of Jeremy Bias in transporting her to the hospital,” Bergeron wrote as part of his investigation.
Graig LeBlanc, who received a hand injury allegedly from the same chambered round fired by Butler. The report also indicates that following the incident, Butler pulled Graig LeBlanc from a vehicle driven by Crystal LeBlanc and that Butler accompanied Graig LeBlanc back into her residence.
Crystal LeBlanc, the arrest affidavit indicates, had attempted to get her husband into her vehicle so both of them could seek medical assistance for their injuries, the report indicates.
Following the shooting incident, Bergeron wrote in his investigative report that the audio from the surveillance footage shows Butler using an expletive while telling Crystal LeBlanc to leave her property.
Butler has been charged in separative court documents with one felony count of obstruction of justice, another felony count of illegal carrying or discharging of a weapon and a misdemeanor charge of negligent injury.
The Opelousas Board of Aldermen voted in January to place Butler on paid administrative leave. She is free on a $22,000 bond, while Graig LeBlanc posted his $26,000 bond following his arrest on Monday.
