Alexanria man arrested on burglary, contempt of court charges

By Everything Cenla staff

Cagron Clovis, 30, 1818 Bush Ave., Alexandria, was arrested Wednesday morning in connection with a burglary that occurred at 50 Prospect St., Alexandria, according to the Alexandria Police.

Clovis was booked into the Rapides Parish Jail on charges of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling and two contempt of court warrants.

According to the police report, the following allegedly occurred:

At about 6:03 a.m., officers responded to a call about a burglary in progress at 50 Prospect St. When officers arrived, they reported seeing a man later identified as Clovis walking near Levin and Bertie streets. Officers stopped Clovis to talk to him and he agreed to go back to the Prospect Street address. When they arrived at the home, Clovis allegedly said, “I was just here trying to get inside and get a drink of water. It’s my cousin’s house.”

The complainant told police that while she was in the kitchen preparing something to eat; she heard a knock at the front door. When she asked who was at the door, there was no answer. She then heard someone kicking or banging against the back door trying to get the door open. She also said that after the suspect couldn’t get in the back door, he began walking around the home. After further investigation, the homeowner told police Clovis was not her cousin as he had stated.

Alexandria Police seeking information on armed robbery, carjacking

The Alexandria Police Department is investigating an armed robbery and carjacking that allegedly occurred about 10 p.m. Tuesday night at Walden Points Apartments on Twin Bridges Road, according to Alexandria Police.

Upon arrival to the scene, officers talked to a woman who reported an unknown man approached her 2000 Nissan Xterra, pointed a handgun at her and demanded she let him in her vehicle. She accused the man of having the handgun pointed at the back of her head while she drove off.

The woman told police the man instructed her to drive towards Masonic Avenue and Horseshoe Drive. She said she didn’t know the address of the Masonic Avenue location he forced her to exit the vehicle.

Investigators said before the gunman demanded the woman get out of the car, he allegedly asked her if she had any money and wanted her driver’s license. Officers said the man took $400 from the woman and told her that if she notified police, he would come to her residence and get her.

The incident is still under investigation.

Alexandria bar shooting injures three

The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a Morgan Street bar shooting that left three people injured Sunday morning, according to the Alexandria Police.

The shooting occurred about 2:41 a.m. at Club Platinum, 5303 Morgan St. The victims have been identified as Carmela Peterson, 25; Earnest Sherman, 29, 20 Gordon St.; and Lovan Sherman, 28, 26 Gordon St. Peterson’s address is not listed on the police report.

According to the police report, the following allegedly occurred:

Police received information that shots had been fired at the bar and that someone, who had been shot, was driven to Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.

The bar’s owner told police that she called police after hearing a loud bang. A bartender reported hearing three to four gunshots “ring out on the dance floor and people began ducking and running out of the club.”

Witnesses reported to police that they saw security personnel remove several people from the club. After security came back inside, the possible suspects got back into the club and a fight began two women began resulting in two shots being fired hitting the Sherman and Peterson, who was shot in the back. Earnest Sherman was shot in the left leg and Lovan was shot in the arm.

Four Alexandria men accused of robbing two Grant Parish men

By EverythingCenla staff

Four Alexandria men are accused of using a weapon to rob two Grant Parish men near Fatboy’s on North Texas Avenue Sunday afternoon, according to Alexandria police reports.

The four men are:

• Dominik Rose, 18, 11414 Marilyn Dr.
• Cederius Span, 18, 1205 Magnolia St.
• Delmartrius Span, 19, 1205 Magnolia St.
• Jerome Harrell, 26, 1525 Madison St.

Each has been charged with armed robbery

The four men allegedly brandished a handgun and robbed the men taking a credit card. The victims from Dry Prong and Colfax told police the men left the scene in a gray van. While responding to the call, officers reported seeing a gray van traveling east on Rapides Drive turning left on Veterans.

The men were arrested and booked into the Rapides Parish Jail.

UPDATE: Vehicle hits large ditch off of Bayou Rapids Road

By Everything Cenla

The Alexandria Police Department responded to MacArthur Drive and Bayou Rapides Road about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday in response to a two-vehicle accident, according to the accident report.

The accident involved a 2007 Toyota Camry, driven by Kim Diane, 10827 Highway 28 West in Boyce, and a 1994 Buick Skylark, driven by Doris Carter, 1811 Powell Lane of Alexandria.

The accident report indicates the Camry was headed westward crossing over MacArthur Drive to Bayou Rapides Road. As it crossed the West Service Road, the vehicle hit the Skylark, which was north of the service.  Diane told officers she didn’t see the Skylark.

Meanwhile, Carter said the Camry hit her Skylark as she was crossing the service road. The skylark rolled through the intersection and turned upside down.

Diane was cited for failure to yield.

Mother, daughter accused of stabbing mother’s boyfriend

By Everything Cenla staff

A mother and her daughter were arrested Saturday and are accused of stabbing the mother’s boyfriend after she saw him with other women, according to the Alexandria Police.

Alice Davis, 49, 120 Sunset, and her daughter Carnquitta Davis, 21, 3103 Monroe St., were arrested shortly after midnight Sunday, Aug. 29.  Davis’ boyfriend accuses the women of jumping and stabbing him after an argument about the boyfriend being with other women.

The boyfriend accuses Alice Davis of leaving their home irate and returning with her daughter.  They allegedly used a knife to stab him in the left arm and right side.

The victim was treated at Rapides Regional Medical Center. The women were booked into the Rapides Parish Jail each on a charge of aggravated battery.

Veteran Baton Rouge police captain appointed new Alexandria police chief

Mayor Jacques Roy with Alexandria's new police chief, Roger Tully

By Bill Sumrall
The Light

A 29-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department is the new chief of police in Alexandria as of Monday, Aug. 9.

Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy on the recommendation of the Alexandria Police Chief Evaluation and Selection Committee appointed Roger Tully, 57.

“I’m excited to be here,” Tully told a crowd of area law enforcement officers, public officials and citizens gathered Monday in the Public Safety Complex’s community room, following a shift change at the police station.

Tully told the audience he’ll bring to the job as chief his experience and knowledge about law enforcement as well as personal involvement with the community.

Tully said he demonstrated that personal involvement by making his last arrest for the Baton Rouge Police Department on Thursday, Aug. 5, after he saw a man being chased for attempting to steal pillows and a blanket from a store.

“That’s why I wear a uniform, that’s why I’ve got lights on my car, because you don’t know what’s going to jump out in front of you,” Tully said.

“That’s the kind of work I believe in,” Tully said.

“I’ve never lost touch with the community, and my goal is for you, the community, and me, as the chief, to work together to build a safe Alexandria, where our children can grow up, where we can live and enjoy,” Tully said.

“I love Alexandria. I told the mayor I’ve been coming here for years. So it wasn’t hard for me to look at this. I’ve looked nowhere else, except for Baton Rouge,” Tully said, adding he tested unsuccessfully six years ago for Baton Rouge chief.

Tully was also recommended by Mayor Roy’s Personnel Committee, and scored the highest on the Police Chief Civil Service examination and “did extremely well” — among the top two or three — on the City’s “dynamic test,” Roy said.

“Roger’s appointment comes after an extensive process … it was very competitive,” Roy said.

The committee interviewed 10 candidates. “There was no weight given to insiders or outsiders, and Roger came out on top,” Roy said.

“Again, the competition was close. They (the committee) were very impressed with Tully but, again, I can assure you our home team did very well, very well.”

Corey Lair, who served as moderator for the Alexandria Police Chief Evaluation and Selection Committee, explained their role in the candidate selection process that led to their recommendation of Tully to the mayor.

A detailed history and time-line of the process, which was designed to keep politics out of the selection, will be publicly released next week, Lair said.

“The process to select the next Alexandria chief has been rigorous, deliberative and exhaustive,” Lair said.

“The evaluation selection committee voted to continue its oversight for one year. During that time, the committee reserves the right to recommend to the mayor dismissal of the chief and recommendation for hire of other applicants,” Lair said.

“It is important to remember that this fit must work and it is only after real-time evaluation that the community can know that we’ve got the right guy,” Lair said.

Tully said he’ll have an open-door policy as Alexandria’s police chief.

“My door is open. My phone is open. I answer questions. If I can’t fix it, I’ll find who can. There’s obviously a lot of talent in Alexandria PD (police department), there’s a lot of things going on here that are good, that are working, and we just need to let the community know,” Tully said.

More than 60 people attended the press conference portion of the event which followed the shift change, when the appointment was first announced to Alexandria police officers and area officials.

As an Assistant to Baton Rouge’s Chief Jeff LeDuff, Tully was Commander of the Uniform Patrol Bureau, directly supervising 10 captains and more than 400 officers, the mayor said.

In addition, Tully has served in various capacities that include Chief of Staff for Chief Jeff LeDuff, Instructor for the Baton Rouge Police Department and LSU Basic Academy and Commander’s School, Commander of Professional Standards, Criminal Records Commander, and Accreditation Commander, Roy said.

Tully was instrumental in electronically converting Baton Rouge Police Department records and helped Baton Rouge Police Department achieve its first-ever national accredited status, Roy said.

LeDuff attended the press conference in support of Tully, whom he introduced to the audience.

“You’re getting somebody who’s going to put their boots on the ground. If you are here from the community … you will see a uniformed chief. You will see a chief that is involved with his community,” LeDuff said.

LeDuff noted that Tully believes in community policing. “He has an institutional knowledge of rules and regulations that are second to none,” LeDuff said.

“He’s been a problem-solver for me,” added LeDuff, the Baton Rouge chief, about Tully, who served as his assistant.

“You’re getting a criminal justice professional,” LeDuff said, specifically addressing Alexandria police officers.

“We believe in the process, we believe in the people, we understand what the community members mean to our fight against crime, we understand what it is to be a team,” LeDuff said, who concluded his remarks by embracing Tully.

Mayor Roy detailed the process for the selection of the chief.

A police advisory panel charged with selecting the committee that evaluated candidates for recommendation to the mayor was “diverse as to rank, gender and race.”

“That’s important because of the city we have in Alexandria, not only with its demographics, but, key, it’s also important because the ICP (International Chiefs of Police) findings discussed those issues about diversity and how improvement should occur in the future, and all the things that are big changes that this department faces,” Roy said.

“I want you to see the protections that are there to remove politics,” Roy said.

In addition to diversity, technology, community policing and organizational change were cited by the ICP report, the mayor said, adding that Police Commissioner T.W. Thompson instituted organizational changes before his tenure expired.

“All in all, as you can see, this process did in fact remove the political parts of a selection and I think represents a best practice that we can be very proud of,” Roy said.

Roy cited the formation of a five-member police advisory panel who were elected by the rank of the Alexandria police force, Roy said.

Four police panel members were elected through the union and one member was elected at-large who was not a union member, Roy said, and did not come from him or his office. Lt. Ethel Queen chaired the police advisory panel.

The panel decided to give no preference whether the candidate was from inside or outside the Alexandria Police Department, Roy said.

The panel also considered whether the chief should live inside or outside the city limits and concluded the chief should live inside, Roy said, though that did not disqualify anyone who didn’t as time would be given for a candidate to relocate.