Message boards damaged, police investigate
PRAIRIEVILLE — Two electronic message board signs at the Frog Bayou Lock construction site on Alligator Bayou Road were shot and damaged this past weekend, Ascension Parish officials said Thursday in a news release.
Ronnie Fairchild, the director of the parish’s Department of Public Works, said the two signs, each worth $16,138, were damaged either late in the evening of July 27 or early in the morning on July 28.
The signs were placed at the location to alert residents that Alligator Bayou Road was closed while parish drainage crews were repairing the Frog Bayou Lock.
Tony Bacala, chief deputy with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, said several juveniles in Iberville Parish reportedly were hunting at night, and officials believe they may be connected to the sign shooting.
“We have a rifle that we got from them that has been sent to the lab for comparison,” Bacala said.
No arrests have been made in the case thus far, Bacala said.
Fairchild, meanwhile, is asking anyone with additional information about the incident to contact the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office at (225) 621-8300 or call his office at (225) 621-1129.
“We’re asking the public to come forward with any information in case they may have heard gunshots or seen someone at the scene, or leaving the scene,” Fairchild said in the release.
“Those signs were practically brand-new and have only been used three times.”