Crawfish Pond Owner Confirms New Details After Video Goes Viral

NEW INFORMATION: The property in question is not owned by "Tee" Guidry as many have assumed after watching the now-deleted video. The owner, who we have chosen not to identify, says Guidry is a sharecropper on the land. Our original story has been updated to reflect these changes.

After the initial confrontation, the allegation is that Guidry took a cell phone and a set of keys to one of the vehicles belonging to the KLFY employees. The reporter and photographer were unable to leave the property as Guidry was demanding. That explains the potential for theft charges for Guidry. John Mowell with the Lafayette Sheriff's Office says that the investigation has been turned over the District Attorney's Office. After Lafayette Sheriff's deputies responded, Guidry was handcuffed (but not arrested) as a deputy tried to calm the situation. Lafayette Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Mowell describes Guidry as being "irate".

It was at that time that the KLFY crew was able to leave the scene.

KLFY has given no comment on the situation. KPEL has also reached out to Guidry for a response, but so far none has been given. Mowell says Guidry was not issued a summons for theft, but the District Attorney is reviewing the circumstances of the case.

*****Original Story below and updates above.

There was a confrontation at a crawfish pond in Lafayette Parish Tuesday that ended with each of the three people being issued a summons. A now-deleted video on social media showed a crawfish farmer berating a KLFY reporter and cameraman while a police officer from Duson was standing patiently near the unfolding scene. The video has since been deleted from Facebook.

Kip Judice, the Chief of Police of Duson, says when he received a call from a crawfish farmer the man asked for someone to come out to his farm. The farmer asked Judice for help because he wanted the reporter and cameraman removed from his property. Judice tells KPEL that the man's pond is not in the Duson jurisdiction, but because he had helped the man retrieve stolen money and crawfish three weeks ago, he decided to send someone out there to see if they could be of assistance.

The Duson Police Chief says that when his officer arrived on the scene, the young female reporter, Alece Courville was leaning against a car, and the cameraman was standing next to the Channel 10 news van. The video, which has since been removed from social media, was a tirade by "Tee" Guidry laced with profanities. He berated the reporter and cameraman saying they were going to report fake news in reference to the coronavirus.

Judice tells KPEL that Courville and Lance Leblanc, the cameraman, were there to set up a "live" shot for news broadcast on Channel 10. Guidry, who is not the owner of the property, demanded that the news team be issued a citation. Lt. John Mowell with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office says they were contacted about the situation, and they went to the scene since it is their jurisdiction. The crawfish pond is located in the 1300 block of Austria Road.

Mowell says Guidry was irate, and the deputy told Guidry he was going to handcuff him and put him in the back of his patrol car while the situation was being sorted out. Both the reporter and the cameraman were issued a misdemeanor summons for criminal trespassing and Guidry was issued a misdemeanor summons for Theft.

I have placed a call to the News Director at Channel 10 for more information, but I have not received a return call yet. One of my colleagues also contacted the News Director, but he has not received a return call either.

Mowell says they are continuing to investigate the circumstances of yesterday's events and additional charges are possible.

KPEL is dedicated to the accurate coverage of news. We wrote this story after a video pertaining to this situation had received more than 1,000 views by the time this story was posted. We believe that all the information about a situation, including the context surrounding the situation, should be known, so that you, the listener, will have all of the information.