Two charged in shooting stemming from nightclub fight
Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 5, 2009
By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur
LAPLACE – St. John Parish authorities have arrested two men in connection with a shooting near a LaPlace nightclub last month that left a St. James man injured, according to a spokesman for the St. John Sheriff’s Office.
Cecil Young, 31, of 516 Mockingbird Lane, St. Rose, and Travis Poydras, 29, of 1128 Touro St., New Orleans, were arrested Tuesday for their participation in the Nov. 22 shooting, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office.
Clement said Poydras was arrested in New Orleans as a fugitive, while Young was arrested at his work address in St. Charles Parish. He said both men were booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace on two counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder.
According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, the 39-year-old St. James man, whose name was not released, was shot three times in the leg as his car was stopped on Airline Highway near McReine Road. Investigators said prior to the shooting the victim had been arguing with another man inside Club 1107 on Airline Highway in LaPlace.
Clement said detectives have not revealed how Young and Poydras are linked to the shooting. He said both men were at the scene at the time of the shooting. Investigators are still searching for the triggerman.
The initial incident report said following the argument inside the club, the victim and his 25-year-old wife left the club around 2 a.m. in the victim’s car and headed westbound on Airline Highway, but the car was stopped by a burgundy sedan blocking the highway near McReine Road.
The sedan’s driver got out of his car and began firing several shots at the victim’s vehicle. Following the shooting, the victim was able to drive himself to River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace for treatment.
Later that same day, police stopped a vehicle fitting the description of the shooter’s car in New Orleans. Authorities said one of the three men in the car was detained for questioning.
Clement said Young and Poydras, who were also booked with principal to aggravated criminal damage to property, are each being held in lieu of $207,500 bail. He said more arrests are pending in the case, and anyone with any more information on should contact St. John Sheriff’s Detective Walter Stevens at 985-652-6338.