Trail ride Shut Down by St. Landry Parish Over Gang Violence Concerns
St. Landry Sheriff Shuts Down Country Bunnie Riders Event Without Due Process!
May 22, 2013
By William Johnson
The Daily World
The Country Bunnie Riders trail ride, set for this weekend in Leonville, has been canceled by orders of St. Landry Parish government for fear of a brawl.
That move could shut down trail rides in the parish entirely.
The event was set to begin Friday evening at the IFBS Lodge on La. 31 just southeast of Opelousas with the party expected to continue through Saturday. The trail ride portion of the event was to be held Sunday.
“It is not going to happen,” said Sheriff Bobby Guidroz. “If they show up, they will be in violation, and I will take appropriate action.”
Guidroz said he recently received information that members of a rival trail ride group planned to come to the Leonville event seeking revenge for a shooting last weekend in Acadia Parish.
That shooting, which took place at a convenience store near another trail ride in Branch, left D’Andre Goodley, 18, of Eunice dead and two other men wounded.
Guidroz said the tip he received was that members of the rival group were seeking vengeance for the “shooting, verbal disputes and unfinished fist fights.”
“I believe the information to be credible, and I am concerned for the safety of the trail ride organization members, nonmembers, the public in the immediate area, security personnel and law enforcement officers,” Guidroz said.
When he got the tip, Guidroz said he looked into the parish’s trail ride ordinance and found any trail ride that uses any portion of a state road, such as La. 31, must first obtain permission from State Police.
Guidroz said he then checked with State Police and learned that not only was the Country Bunnies ride not approved by the state agency, the State Police have a policy in place of never approving any trail ride on a state road.
He took that information to parish government, which must approve all trail rides. Jessie Bellard, the parish’s director of administration, then ordered the trail ride permit revoked.
“We cannot give approval without it,” Bellard said of the required approval from State Police.
He argued this could have an effect on almost every trail ride in the parish as well. Almost all St. Landry Parish trail rides use at least a portion of a state highway during some part of their ride.
“This changes everything,” Bellard said.
Martin Bellow with the trail ride association said the potential for violence did exist, but the association was dealing with it.
He said members of many area trail ride groups had set a meeting for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Leonville event to head off any disputes.
“We are just trying to assuage all this. We are just trying to get all this stopped,” Bellow said.
David Lemelle, who heads up Step-N-Strut, the parish’s largest trail ride, argued last weekend’s violence really had nothing to do with trail riders.
“It happened at a convenience store. It was not tied to the ride,” Lemelle said. “They are just trying to tie it back to the trail ride. The people involved were not even trail riders.”
Maxine Trahan, public information officer with the Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday the investigation into the triple shooting was ongoing. She also declined to link the nearby trail ride with the incident.
“We have not made the tie to the shooting because it did not occur on the property of the trail ride,” Trahan said. “Some people in the store were part of that trail ride, but we're not going to say it’s tied in to the incident.”
Lemelle put the blame on young people with a long history of violence and disputes. He said they in no way represent trail riders.
“We have doctors, lawyers, business owners — a lot of good people who just want to enjoy themselves,” Lemelle said. “Some of these people are pulling $100,000 rigs. They are not going to put themselves into a situation where they might get beaten up.”
“We bring our kids to these events,” agreed Bellow.
Bellow also argued that linking the Country Bunnies into such violence is absurd. “That is an all-women group. I don’t think they even have a single male member. They are a good group of people,” Bellow said.
He also argued that shutting down the event just days before it was set to begin works a hardship on the group.
“Events like this are planned a year in advance, sometimes two years in advance,” said Bellow, who said attracting top-name zydeco groups takes serious planning.
Trail rides have been a part of this region’s culture for generations. But in recent years, with the growing popularity of such events, they have become increasingly controversial.
Step-N-Strut, for instance, has been drawing tens of thousands of visitors in recent years.
To help regulate such rides, the parish has drafted several ordinances in the past five years. The current ordinance, adopted about two years ago, seemed to be working. It put in place a high standard for security both at the event and during the ride.
But with the larger rides, Guidroz said he has new concerns as well.
“In addition to having concerns with regards to human life, I am also concerned with the availability of parking for an estimated 300-400 vehicles that will be driven to the IFBS Lodge and that have traditionally parked on the roadway shoulders,” Guidroz said.
He pointed to another recent ride at the lodge. “My office received numerous calls and documented reports of fights, backed up traffic and reports of vehicles parked on the roadway,” Guidroz said.
St. Landry Sheriff Shuts Down Country Bunnie Riders Event Without Due Process!
May 22, 2013
By William Johnson
The Daily World
 |
| Sheriff Bobby Guidroz and the St. Landry Parish Government cancelled the Country Bunnie Riders Event over Fears of a Brawl |
The Country Bunnie Riders trail ride, set for this weekend in Leonville, has been canceled by orders of St. Landry Parish government for fear of a brawl.
That move could shut down trail rides in the parish entirely.
The event was set to begin Friday evening at the IFBS Lodge on La. 31 just southeast of Opelousas with the party expected to continue through Saturday. The trail ride portion of the event was to be held Sunday.
“It is not going to happen,” said Sheriff Bobby Guidroz. “If they show up, they will be in violation, and I will take appropriate action.”
Guidroz said he recently received information that members of a rival trail ride group planned to come to the Leonville event seeking revenge for a shooting last weekend in Acadia Parish.
That shooting, which took place at a convenience store near another trail ride in Branch, left D’Andre Goodley, 18, of Eunice dead and two other men wounded.
Guidroz said the tip he received was that members of the rival group were seeking vengeance for the “shooting, verbal disputes and unfinished fist fights.”
“I believe the information to be credible, and I am concerned for the safety of the trail ride organization members, nonmembers, the public in the immediate area, security personnel and law enforcement officers,” Guidroz said.
When he got the tip, Guidroz said he looked into the parish’s trail ride ordinance and found any trail ride that uses any portion of a state road, such as La. 31, must first obtain permission from State Police.
Guidroz said he then checked with State Police and learned that not only was the Country Bunnies ride not approved by the state agency, the State Police have a policy in place of never approving any trail ride on a state road.
He took that information to parish government, which must approve all trail rides. Jessie Bellard, the parish’s director of administration, then ordered the trail ride permit revoked.
“We cannot give approval without it,” Bellard said of the required approval from State Police.
He argued this could have an effect on almost every trail ride in the parish as well. Almost all St. Landry Parish trail rides use at least a portion of a state highway during some part of their ride.
“This changes everything,” Bellard said.
Martin Bellow with the trail ride association said the potential for violence did exist, but the association was dealing with it.
He said members of many area trail ride groups had set a meeting for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Leonville event to head off any disputes.
“We are just trying to assuage all this. We are just trying to get all this stopped,” Bellow said.
David Lemelle, who heads up Step-N-Strut, the parish’s largest trail ride, argued last weekend’s violence really had nothing to do with trail riders.
“It happened at a convenience store. It was not tied to the ride,” Lemelle said. “They are just trying to tie it back to the trail ride. The people involved were not even trail riders.”
Maxine Trahan, public information officer with the Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday the investigation into the triple shooting was ongoing. She also declined to link the nearby trail ride with the incident.
“We have not made the tie to the shooting because it did not occur on the property of the trail ride,” Trahan said. “Some people in the store were part of that trail ride, but we're not going to say it’s tied in to the incident.”
Lemelle put the blame on young people with a long history of violence and disputes. He said they in no way represent trail riders.
“We have doctors, lawyers, business owners — a lot of good people who just want to enjoy themselves,” Lemelle said. “Some of these people are pulling $100,000 rigs. They are not going to put themselves into a situation where they might get beaten up.”
“We bring our kids to these events,” agreed Bellow.
Bellow also argued that linking the Country Bunnies into such violence is absurd. “That is an all-women group. I don’t think they even have a single male member. They are a good group of people,” Bellow said.
He also argued that shutting down the event just days before it was set to begin works a hardship on the group.
“Events like this are planned a year in advance, sometimes two years in advance,” said Bellow, who said attracting top-name zydeco groups takes serious planning.
Trail rides have been a part of this region’s culture for generations. But in recent years, with the growing popularity of such events, they have become increasingly controversial.
Step-N-Strut, for instance, has been drawing tens of thousands of visitors in recent years.
To help regulate such rides, the parish has drafted several ordinances in the past five years. The current ordinance, adopted about two years ago, seemed to be working. It put in place a high standard for security both at the event and during the ride.
But with the larger rides, Guidroz said he has new concerns as well.
“In addition to having concerns with regards to human life, I am also concerned with the availability of parking for an estimated 300-400 vehicles that will be driven to the IFBS Lodge and that have traditionally parked on the roadway shoulders,” Guidroz said.
He pointed to another recent ride at the lodge. “My office received numerous calls and documented reports of fights, backed up traffic and reports of vehicles parked on the roadway,” Guidroz said.
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