Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux is allegedly the subject of a criminal investigation after methamphetamine was discovered near his office at the Police Department, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
John Mowell, spokesperson for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, confirmed his agency is conducting an investigation involving the Youngsville Police Department. Mowell would not disclose specifics, citing the active investigation.
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A search warrant obtained by The Acadiana Advocate shows the Sheriff's Office was authorized to obtain video footage from cameras at the Youngsville Police Department because they were believed to include evidence of one felony count of possession of a schedule II substance. Drugs in that class include hydrocodone, cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone and fentanyl. The search warrant was signed at 11:23 a.m. July 17 by 15th Judicial District Court Judge Royale Colbert.
A Police Department employee allegedly discovered a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine near the police chief's office on the morning of July 17, multiple sources said, and an outside agency was contacted to assist in an investigation.
Youngsville City Attorney Wade Trahan confirmed that city representatives contacted law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation. Trahan would not discuss specifics of the case.
"We're waiting to find out the findings of what the sheriff is investigating," Trahan said. "This is all in the hands of the sheriff."
Pat Magee, who is representing Boudreaux in a lawsuit against the city council, said he is unaware of any alleged criminal activity concerning his client or whether his client has a criminal attorney. Magee said he would not be informed of any potential criminal investigation because his law firm only represents Boudreaux in his capacity as an elected official.
"I don't represent Rickey Boudreaux," Magee said. "I represent the chief of police of the city of Youngsville."
Boudreaux did not respond to requests for comment for this story but asked Rebecca LaSalle, who is assisting Magee with Boudreaux's civil lawsuit, to share a statement on his behalf.
"(Tuesday night), Mayor Ritter did call Chief Boudreaux, asking him if he would consider resigning," LaSalle said. "Chief Boudreaux is not going to discuss the private details of the conversation; however, out of respect for the citizens of Youngsville, he is considering all options. Additionally, due to the toll of these malicious attacks on Chief Boudreaux, he was rushed to the hospital. After conferring with his cardiologist, he is now scheduled for an angioplasty (Friday). Out of respect for his family, he will not comment further."
LaSalle would not disclose when Boudreaux was rushed to the hospital or comment further on the matter.
Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter declined to comment for this story.
Council member Logan Lannoo said the current situation is touch and go.
"If these allegations turn out to be true, it's unprecedented," Lannoo said. "As far as the specifics I've been told, I'm unable to disclose that at this time."
Council member Matt Romero said he is limited in what he can say because this is an active investigation.
"We need to let the Sheriff's Office handle this investigation as they are the professional here," Romero wrote in a message to The Advocate. "This is something that shouldn't happen!"
Council members Simone Champagne and Ken Stansbury declined to comment. Council member Lindy Bolgiano did not respond to a request for comment.
The criminal investigation comes after months of conflict between the elected police chief and city council members.
The problems came into public view in a March 26 story in The Acadiana Advocate that detailed how a former council member may have received special treatment after she called Boudreaux from the scene of a November crash in Sugar Mill Pond. Kayla Reaux, the former council member, left the scene of the crash in the chief's vehicle without receiving a citation or sobriety test. She resigned from her elected position days after the story published.
After public outcry, the city council announced it would investigate Boudreaux from the time he first took office in 2015 until the present day.
Boudreaux responded by suing the city council. Fifteenth Judicial District Court Judge Kristian Earles has not yet issued a ruling in the lawsuit that alleges that two of the city council's resolutions violate the Lawrason Municipal Corporations Act, which limits the authority of the mayor and council over an elected police chief.
Since then, the city council conducted an audit that found Boudreaux collected more than $24,000 in taxpayer funds for unauthorized vehicle expenses from September 2016 through April 2023. He collected those funds on top of the $1,000-per-month vehicle allowance he received until May, when the Youngsville City Council unanimously voted to pause those payments. The council also eliminated the monthly allowance from the department's budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
A complaint was filed against Boudreaux earlier this week with the city's civil service board that alleges the police chief engaged in ticket fixing, extortion, retaliatory conduct, concealment of public records, election rigging and improper handling of complaints. The complaint, filed by two organizations, asked the civil service board to investigate the chief.
Ethical concerns about Boudreaux were raised long before he was elected as the police chief of Youngsville.
Boudreaux was fired from the Sheriff's Office in 2008 for allegedly having sex with a criminal informant. The allegation was sustained by an internal investigation that included a recorded phone call between Boudreaux and the informant and a polygraph test, which indicated deception when Boudreaux was asked whether he engaged in sexual activity with the informant.
Sheriff’s Office records show Boudreaux was disciplined numerous times over alleged policy violations prior to the incident that resulted in his termination.
In 2001, Boudreaux was reprimanded after he refused to take a recently arrested woman to the hospital for treatment. The woman said Boudreaux had stepped on her foot, and she believed her foot was broken. An intake nurse at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center refused to admit the suspect into the jail and instructed Boudreaux to take the woman to the hospital. Instead, Boudreaux allegedly shouted expletives at the suspect and broadcast inappropriate information over a radio frequency directed toward the nursing staff. Boudreaux eventually took the woman’s handcuffs off and declared he was “unarresting her.”
Boudreaux was suspended without pay for two 12-hour shifts and placed on probation later in 2001 after he allegedly helped a woman break into her ex-boyfriend’s home. The woman was the daughter of a Sheriff’s Office employee, and the home was located in the Lafayette Police Department’s jurisdiction, according to records.
Boudreaux was also flagged by the Sheriff’s Office Early Identification Program on three occasions because more than three use-of-force incidents had been linked to him in a one-year timeframe.
When asked last year about his time at the Sheriff’s Office, Boudreaux said he got a lot of training in and ran one of the most successful street teams at the agency.
At a council meeting earlier this year, Boudreaux said he had no plans of stepping down from his elected position as the Youngsville police chief.
"I will not sit down and take it," he said during a March 30 meeting. "I will fight to the bitter end."