The owner of a popular restaurant is complaining about his arrest by Scott Police officers - but their chief says they followed the rules.
"My charge....as far as I know was being a suspicious Black Man, in a Blacked out vehicle," says Jerry Bobb, owner of the Super Taters restaurant on Cameron Street.
Bobb posted on social media that he was arrested Monday on two counts of resisting an officer after he had a run-in with Scott Police officers Friday night.
Bobb says he was pulled over after leaving his business. He says he filed a complaint about his interaction on Monday morning, and that afternoon he was arrested, in his restaurant, for resisting an officer.
Scott Police say Bobb was pulled over after officers saw a vehicle parked in a dark parking lot outside a shopping center. It was almost 11 p.m. and all the businesses in the shopping center were closed, Chief Chad Leger told KATC. Bobb wasn't parked near his business, but near another business - although it is the same parking lot, he said.
The officer who pulled him over asked for his ID, but, the chief says, Bobb refused and berated the officers.
"When the officer requested the driver’s identification, the driver, later identified as Jerry Bobb, 42, of Lafayette, refused to identify himself and continued to question the officer as to why he was stopped. When officers attempted to explain to Bobb the purpose of the stop, Bobb continuously interrupted and stated he was calling the mayor," a release from Scott Police states. "Bobb refused the officer’s request to identify himself several more times while berating and insulting the officer’s intelligence by repeatedly calling him stupid. Once additional officers arrived on scene, the officer attempted to detain Bobb due to his noncompliance and refusal to identify himself. Bobb attempted to evade the officer, cursing at officers, and vigorously pulled away."
On Monday, Scott Police took the case to a district commissioner, who signed off on an arrest warrant, Leger said.
"Interestingly enough it seemed that the 5 p.m. arrest was a direct result of the complaint I attempted to file on Monday morning," Bobb wrote on his restaurant's Facebook page. "I've always tried my best not to break any laws all while having the utmost respect for Police officers for the difficult job they have. To say the least ...I am thoroughly confused by my current situation. In addition I fully believe that this is an effort by the 3 officers to humiliate me, tarnish my reputation in this community and interrupt my successfully conducting business in the City of Scott (as they made it a point to execute the arrest warrant at 5pm in front of my customers)."
Bobb said he wanted his customers to know why he was arrested.
"So if you saw my mugshot on the arrest website this is why. So in case there are any additional interactions w/ Scott P.D I will assume that they are also in retaliation to the complaint I filed with the department on Monday 12/13/21. This is unfair treatment and I will NOT be silenced......" he wrote.
Leger said his officers couldn't see who was in the vehicle when they saw it pull out of a darkened parking lot late at night.
"It is practically impossible to see inside a vehicle in that parking lot at night, to see if the driver is male or female or what their race is. They couldn't see anything," Leger said of his officer. "It's a dark area there, and all the businesses were closed. It was unknown to my officer who was inside the vehicle until after he made the traffic stop down the road."
Leger said the entire exchange was caught on body cams, and he watched the tapes and is satisfied that all his officers conducted themselves as they were trained to do. Leger said his hands are tied, because he can't release the body cam footage until the case is closed.
Officers stop vehicles all the time in these kinds of situations, Leger said. If an occupied vehicle is parked in a parking lot after hours, they will stop to make sure the motorist isn't having issues, he said.
The chief also disputes Bobb's sequence of events; he said Bobb hasn't filed a complete, formal complaint yet. He said Bobb's attorney requested a complaint packet, which was forwarded on Wednesday, but no complete, formal complaint has been received yet.
KATC's Taylor Toole went to Super Taters Wednesday night for additional comment from Bobb, but he declined.
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