Our media partners at The Advocate report that Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux collected more than $24,000 in taxpayer funds for unauthorized vehicle expenses from September 2016 through April 2023, according to a recently completed audit.
Boudreaux collected, on average, more than $300 extra per month for itemized vehicle expenses on top of the approved $1,000-per-month vehicle allowance the chief received until last month, when the Youngsville City Council unanimously voted to pause those payments and conduct the audit. At that time, council members said Boudreaux had pocketed more than $18,000 extra in taxpayer dollars for vehicle expenses on top of the approved $80,000 he had received for such expenses during that timeframe, the newspaper reports.
According to The Advocate the audit, conducted by Burton Kolder of Kolder, Slaven & Company, found that Boudreaux charged taxpayers $22,952.78 for gas and another $1,230.99 for vehicle expenses at Chabill's and O'Reilly's from January 2017 through April 2023.
"I felt like the results definitely supported our concerns," said Mayor Pro-tempore and Council Member Matt Romero in a Monday call. "Actually, there was more monetarily discovered, especially in the last two years. It seems like there was a lot more charges than we anticipated."
To read The Advocate's full story with all the details, click here.
Also last month, the Youngsville City council hired Baton Rouge firm Breazeale, Sachse, and Wilson to investigate Boudreaux; ordering the firm to conduct an investigation of his entire tenure as chief, which began in 2005. But that investigation is on hold after Boudreaux sued the council over it.
Both actions are tied to last year's crash involving former Councilwoman Kayla Reaux who resigned amid allegations that she received special treatment after hitting a parked car.
Reaux was allowed to leave the scene without a citation or sobriety test after Boudreaux appeared at the incident location. She resigned after The Acadiana Advocate reported on the incident. Read that original story here.
One of the responding officers that night has since been fired and a police officer resigned from the civil service board, citing potential retaliation.
