Acadiana police briefs for Feb. 22, 2012

3 arrested in fight over float's banner

LAFAYETTE - Three people were cited for disturbing the peace Tuesday following a woman's attempt to remove a banner from a parade float prior to the KADN/KLAF Independent Parade, according to a police news release.

Lafayette police spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton, in the news release, reported that Erin M. Fitzgerald, 41, approached the float parked on Surrey Street and attempted to remove its banner.

The float rider, Glenn Stewart, 53, confronted Fitzgerald and the two began a "verbal altercation," the news release says.

John St. Julien, 60, intervened and the men began fighting, the release says. During the fight, Fitzgerald was struck in the face and transported to a hospital, the release says.

Stewart and St. Julien were both issued a misdemeanor summons for disturbing the peace by fighting. Fitzgerald was later issued a summons for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.

The news release did not state the contents of the banner.

KATC-TV reported the banner referenced the 2010 OWI arrest of Fitzgerald's stepmother, Cherry Fisher May, co-publisher of The Independent Weekly.

Stewart, a local developer, was the subject of the publication's reporting on property tax loopholes last year. He has previously purchased Johnston Street billboard space to display May's booking mugshot and refer to her arrest.

Acadiana bureau