ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. (KLFY) -- The deputy chief of the St. Martinville Police Department is on administrative leave after he allegedly threatened a resident. This comes nearly a decade after serving time for use of excessive force at another law enforcement agency.
In 2015, Cody Laperouse pleaded guilty to striking a handcuffed man twice at a festival in New Iberia. At the time, he was a deputy with the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office.
After serving a day in prison, one year of supervised release, and doing 200 hours of community service, he hopped back into law enforcement as a patrol officer at the St. Martinville Police Department. He's now in the spotlight again.
"He was actually a good cop. He just, like I said, let his anger get to him, and it cost him his job and probably his career," said St. Martinville Police Chief Ricky Martin.
Martin said the alleged threat incident happened on Aug. 26. Martin said Laperouse came to the department, looking for a man being questioned by detectives regarding an investigation involving Laperouse's mother.
"Cody walks in, barged into the office and tried to physically attack the guy. One of the lieutenants had to grab him, physically, restrain him, and drag him out of the office to my office," Martin said.
Martin immediately demoted the deputy-chief and placed him on leave.
"If we try to physically harm somebody, that cannot be tolerated by any law enforcement officer, much less somebody with rank," Martin said.
Laperouse started working as a patrol officer for St. Martinville police in 2015 after serving time for his excessive force conviction. Martin said when he started at the department, Laperouse was already working there.
Over the years, the chief said despite his past, Laperouse proved himself as a good cop and was promoted to deputy chief in 2019. He's now been stripped of that title, and Martin said he will be recommending his termination to the city council.
"If this isn't sending a message to every other employee that works for me, I don't know what is because I'm not going to tolerate that. It's not going to be tolerated by anybody here," Martin said.
"At the end of the day, we have to protect the integrity of the police department, and from me all the way down, we have to hold ourselves accountable and hold each other accountable," he continued.
The St. Martinville City Council will hear the chief's recommendation for termination at the next council meeting on Monday, Oct. 7. Ultimately, that will be the council's decision.
