Following a dangerous incident on Sept. 6, Church Point Police Chief Dale Thibodeaux has requested that the town invest in a ballistics barrier and gas masks for the police department.
Thibodeaux said, “We went with a couple of officers to do a an OPC, an order of protective custody, that was issued by the coroner. When we made contact with the elderly gentleman, in his 70s, we tried talking to him. He locked the storm door on me. I tried talking to him through the storm door. When I went to pull on the storm door, he put a 12 gauge sawed off shotgun in my face.
“I was able to spin to the side, and one of my officers drew on him, which caused him to back up inside, slam the door and lock it. We were able to get him out very quickly with help from the Housing Authority. We deployed Mace, had him come out in the open and used a non-lethal Taser. We were able to get him out without injuring him.”
The incident occurred at the Centennial Village Housing Authority. After the suspect was subdued, he was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation, and he was later released from medical treatment.
The suspect, Joseph Minnick, 74, of Church Point, was arrested by the Church Point Police and booked into the Acadia Parish Jail on Sept. 9. Minnick was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm or carrying concealed weapon by a person convicted of certain felonies. His bond was set at $100,000. As of Sept. 16, Minnick was still incarcerated in the parish jail.
Thibodeaux spoke about the incident during the Church Point Town Council’s regular meeting on Sept. 9.
“The reason I stated this and the (recent) narcotics (arrests) is because on the next budget, if we happen to find a little bit of extra money somewhere or maybe we can get a loan and in a year, we can amend that budget,” he said. “I would like to get an entry shield and a couple of gas masks to where when we have something like this or we are doing a search warrant, at least we have a little protection with the ballistics shield to be able to go in the house.”
Thibodeaux said ballistics shields cost about $2,000.
“I am thankful that all officers performed well and no one, including the suspect, was injured,” Thibodeaux stated in a news release following the incident.
During the council meeting, Thibodeaux also gave his police department statistics report. Police statistics for the month of August are as follows: 28 bench warrants; $6,598 collected from bench warrants; two bench warrants recalled; three individuals completed time served or community service at the park; 15 drug cases made, 248 calls for service; 197 citations written; 40 arrests; and 10,016 miles patrolled by patrol units. The Unit Safety Report grade was a C for the month of August.
Thibodeaux said that an Aug. 24 DUI checkpoint conducted by the police department yielded no DUI arrests, but officers did work three drug cases, seven suspended licenses and several other violations. Another checkpoint, a saturation patrol, conducted the following week, also yielded no DUI arrests, but officers worked one drug case and several more license suspensions. The two checkpoints were funded by the Highway Regulatory Commission.
Thibodeaux said the new police department trucks are being outfitted for use, and he hopes the trucks will be delivered by the end of the month. Thibodeaux also said the new police department radios should also arrive by the end of the month.
