An Opelouas man has been booked on a cruelty charge, accused of beating a woman with a frying pan and a bench.
Deputies say family members had to use pepper spray on Blake Courville, 36, to make him stop the attack. He's been booked with cruelty to the infirm and illegal carrying of weapons.
Deputies were called to the Emonet Drive area on Sunday. Witnesses said that Courville beat a disabled woman who has late-stage Huntington's Disease. Deputies say Courville used a frying pan and a bench to beat the woman, and a family member had to use pepper spray to stop him.
Courville ran into a shed in the back yard of the home, and since deputies were told he had a knife they called a trained negotiator to the scene. Deputies later learned that Courville had left and was walking along a road, and he was arrested there without incident.
“The victim received non-life-threatening injuries, was treated at a local hospital and allowed to return home. While this is a most unfortunate event, we are glad that a caring person intervened and the alleged suspect was arrested," Sheriff Bobby Guidroz says.
Anyone with additional information about this crime is encouraged to call the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office at 337-948-6516.
