Feds sue ex-IPSO deputy

LAFAYETTE — The United States has formally filed a civil rights violation lawsuit against Cody Laperouse, the former Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy fired after video surfaced apparently depicting him beating a handcuffed man at a Hopkins Street gathering following the 2013 Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival.

U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley filed the criminal suit in the U.S. District Courthouse in Lafayette Monday, specifically charging Laperouse with a Class A misdemeanor.

Finley, in the two-page bill of information, alleges Laperouse, acting in his capacity as a law enforcement officer, “struck and assaulted” the victim, identified only as “C.B.,” while he was under arrest and handcuffed behind his back. She said Laperouse “willfully” deprived the victim of rights — specifically to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer — in the U.S. Constitution.

A civil lawsuit filed last year by a Christopher Butler paints the same picture, with Butler charging Laperouse, three other deputies, the Sheriff’s Office and Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal with violations of his First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.

Laperouse is believed to be the deputy captured via cellphone camera slamming a handcuffed man — Butler, according to the civil lawsuit — to the ground before beating him repeatedly with his baton. Butler was not charged with any crime and he claims in his lawsuit there was no probable cause to arrest him when all he was doing was inquiring as to why his brother-in-law was being taken into custody.

That brother-in-law, David Hardin, also has filed a civil lawsuit in response to his being arrested without probable cause. Aundrea Moore settled her own civil lawsuit — filed in response to her being slammed to the ground in the same incident — on Jan. 29, although the terms of the settlement were not available in federal court records.

Although not a part of the Sugar Cane Festival itself, Hopkins Street routinely plays host to a street party that day, which lasts long after the festival’s conclusion. Deputies were on scene attempting to clear the street, which is a state highway, at the time Butler was struck.

The incident drew strong attention after the cellphone video depicting the beating appeared online. Ackal fired Laperouse shortly after the beating in response to an internal investigation.

“After Sheriff Ackal initiated his own internal investigation and terminated Laperouse after his findings, he contacted the FBI to look into it to see if there were any federal charges,” said Maj. Ryan Turner, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office said today.