UPDATE: Jeanerette Marshal Fernest “Pacman” Martin said he believes his office’s raid on a Jeanerette family’s home over the weekend was appropriate.
Martin said his office heard reports that the stolen car from the Family Dollar Store was located at the Landry’s home earlier that day. He said he is concerned with finding the person who robbed the store and injured the clerk, the safety of his officers and he would react the same way if the Landry’s needed assistance.
He tells KATC he understands the Landrys’ concerns, but he would do things the same way again.
Martin said he also doesn’t agree that family members were dragged out of their home.
ORIGINAL STORY
A Jeanerette family is scared to sleep in their own beds after police allegedly raided their home early this morning.
Nancy Landry said she was woken up by bright flashing blue lights and heard voices outside of her bedroom window early Sunday morning. She said her husband opened the front door to see what it was and was greeted by Jeanerette Police who allegedly had their guns drawn.
The two were put into the back of police cars.
“I had no idea what was going on,” Landry said.
The police then supposedly kicked in a bedroom door and woke up her two sons and one of their girlfriends, handcuffed them and also put them into police cars.
Landry said at no point did she ever think that watching her children being treated that way would be so traumatizing.
“At first I thought we were getting robbed, then I saw it was cops,” Erin Broussard, one of the Landry boy’s girlfriend, who was at the home at the time said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
Landry said police would not tell them what was going on. And it was not until a while later that she found out that a stolen car involved in a robbery at the Family Dollar store was left unattended running in front of their home.
“Whoever did it got away, because they were wasting their time over here with innocent people, and they knew they were innocent,” Landry said.
She said officers left them sitting in police cars for about 45 minutes while at least 10 neighbors watched.
Landry recalls neighbors yelling at police that they had the wrong people while her family detained in the police cars.
Landry said no one in her family has had trouble with the law in the past, so she does not know why police assumed they were involved.
Since it happened, the Landry family does not feel comfortable in their home and feel like they need to move.
“I’m supposed to feel like if someone is trying to break in my house I should feel like I can call you, but now I don’t feel like I even want to see you on the streets,” Landry said.
“We don’t even feel safe in our house from law enforcement.”
Landry said, since then she has heard nothing from the Jeanerette Police.
“They are over at the marshal’s office trying to find a way to cover their tracks, I’m sure, because they sure didn’t decide to say ‘hey we made a mistake,’ ” Landry said. “That would have been nice.”
Landry plans to hire an attorney tomorrow.
Jeanerette Police department declined to comment, saying the investigation into what happened is ongoing.
http://www.katc.com/story/30290844/jeanerette-familys-home-raided-by-police