Baton Rouge news

• Woman hurt convenience store employee during robbery; arrested for taking off with cash, possession of drugs

  15-08-2023 21:00
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - A woman was arrested Tuesday morning after robbing a convenience store in Denham Springs and hurting an employee. The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office said deputies showed up at a convenience store on LA-16 when 40-year-old Julia Hallier was running out of the store. Deputies said Halleir was quickly taken into custody. Detectives said Hallier hurt an employee when she was stealing the money. Halleir was booked for simple robbery, possession of mari
  
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• Deputies find person dead while investigating crash on I-10 in West Baton Rouge

  15-08-2023 18:26
  
  GROSSE TETE - Authorities found a person dead inside a vehicle while investigating a crash along I-10 Tuesday evening. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said it responded to the crash late Tuesday afternoon on I-10 West between the Port Allen and Grosse Tete exits. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the wreck.No other details were immediately available.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Deputies find missing man while investigating crash on I-10 in West Baton Rouge

  15-08-2023 18:26
  
  GROSSE TETE - Authorities found the body of a missing man inside a vehicle while investigating a crash along I-10 Tuesday evening. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said it responded to the crash late Tuesday afternoon on I-10 West between the Port Allen and Grosse Tete exits. Deputies found "Jazzy" Jeff Leon, who was last heard from after leaving a concert in Baton Rouge on Friday night. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the wreck.No other details were imme
  
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• Deputies find body of missing New Iberia man while investigating crash on I-10 in West Baton Rouge

  15-08-2023 18:26
  
  GROSSE TETE - Authorities found the body of a man who went missing early Saturday when they found his vehicle crashed along I-10 Tuesday evening. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said it responded to the crash late Tuesday afternoon on I-10 West between the Port Allen and Grosse Tete exits. Deputies found "Jazzy" Jeff Leon, who was last heard from after leaving a concert in Baton Rouge on Friday night. Family members said that Leon was last heard from at a gas station aro
  
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• Kids had to evacuate school bus after it caught fire in Central - investigators say cause was mechanical

  15-08-2023 17:26
  
  CENTRAL - Kids had to flee a burning school bus after it caught fire on its route Tuesday afternoon. The fire was first reported before 5 p.m. along Greenwell Springs Road in Central. The Central Fire Department said the bus was loaded when the fire started, but everyone had safely exited the bus by the time firefighters arrived. The Central Community School System said 18 students were on the bus when the fire started. The district said the driver saw and smelled smo
  
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• Kids had to evacuate school bus after it caught fire in Central

  15-08-2023 17:26
  
  CENTRAL - Kids had to flee a burning school bus after it caught fire on its route Tuesday afternoon. The fire was first reported before 5 p.m. along Greenwell Springs Road in Central. The Central Fire Department said the bus was loaded when the fire started, but everyone had safely exited the bus by the time firefighters arrived. It's unclear how many children were on the bus when the fire started.Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire.&
  
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• Baton Rouge's overdose deaths on track to match last year's extraordinarily high numbers

  15-08-2023 16:52
  
  BATON ROUGE - Overdose deaths in Baton Rouge are on pace to come close to last year's high number of 296. To date, there have been 181 people who died from drug overdoses, and the coroner's office believes we're in for another bad year.In 2021, the parish saw a record of 311 fentanyl deaths.Brian Keelen knows all too well what can happen when fentanyl-laced drugs get into the wrong hands."My baby brother was doing fentanyl," Keelen said. "It was like a regular drug, almost lost him. That's why
  
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• Alleging abusive conditions, attorneys call for judge to relocate juvenile offenders from Angola

  15-08-2023 16:26
  
  BATON ROUGE - A group of attorneys representing teenagers being housed at the Angola state prison are calling for a judge to take emergency action to have those juvenile offenders relocated. Those attorneys are holding a press conference Tuesday in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Baton Rouge. It comes after the ACLU and other organizations filed an emergency motion in July seeking to have those teenagers moved off the Angola property, alleging abusive conditions at the faci
  
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• 2,100 acres burned after downed utility pole sparks fire in Sabine Parish

  15-08-2023 16:21
  
  FLORIEN - Ten homes, eight structures and some vehicles are destroyed after a downed utility pole sparked a fire that consumed 2,100 acres in Sabine Parish. The Sabine Parish Sheriff's Office said the downed pole was on Mount Carmel Cutoff. As of Tuesday morning, the fire was under control and no injuries were reported. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry is monitoring the situation from aircrafts and is in communication with fire crews on the ground. Deputies
  
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• Jury finds Baton Rouge businessman guilty of murder in his wife's 2015 killing

  15-08-2023 16:16
  
  BATON ROUGE - On Tuesday, jurors found a Baton Rouge businessman guilty of first-degree murder, eight years after he hired three men to kill his ex-wife so he wouldn't have to pay her a $1 million judgment.The verdict came Tuesday evening, a little more than a week after the trial kicked off following years of delays. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2023. His conviction carries an automatic life sentence. “This case has been delayed so many times because of all kind
  
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• Baton Rouge jury deliberating businessman's fate as murder-for-hire trial comes to a close

  15-08-2023 16:16
  
  Jurors on Tuesday opened deliberations on whether a Baton Rouge businessman hired three men to kill his ex-wife so he wouldn't have to pay her a $1 million judgment.One of the hitmen testified Monday that Hamid Ghassemi, 72, approached him in early 2015 and asked him to kill Teherah Ghassemi and the Ghassemi's son Hamed. Teherah Ghassemi was killed in April 2015 but Hamed Ghassemi was not harmed. The son testified against his father last week.The state rested its case Tuesday and Ghassemi attor
  
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• Work release inmate on the run after leaving job site in East Baton Rouge

  15-08-2023 15:42
  
  ZACHARY - Sheriff's deputies are looking for a work release inmate who left his job site in Zachary.The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that Jacob Allen Cassagne, 27, was working at Jett's Food Mart on Church Street when he left in a red SUV or hatchback-style vehicle with tinted windows. Cassagne is about 5'8" and weighs 130 pounds. He was last seen wearing a Jett's Food Mart polo and black pants. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Work release inmate captured in Colorado after leaving job site in East Baton Rouge

  15-08-2023 15:42
  
  UPDATE: Officials said he was captured Tuesday in Colorado. -----ZACHARY - Sheriff's deputies are looking for a work release inmate who left his job site in Zachary.The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that Jacob Allen Cassagne, 27, was working at Jett's Food Mart on Church Street when he left in a red SUV or hatchback-style vehicle with tinted windows. Cassagne is about 5'8" and weighs 130 pounds. He was last seen wearing a Jett's Food Mart polo and black pants.
  
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• Popular app making changes after privacy, safety concerns raised by school districts

  15-08-2023 14:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - An app designed to connect students with their classmates and to help organize their day is undergoing changes after parents and school districts -- including at least one in the Baton Rouge area -- raised safety concerns.The "Saturn" app has been available for several years, but appears to have seen a surge in popularity of late.It promises to help high school students coordinate their day, and it allows those who sign up to network with others at their school, sharing class sche
  
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• Overturned garbage truck blocks traffic on LA 22 in Sorrento

  15-08-2023 14:43
  
  SORRENTO - A garbage truck flipped over on a highway just south of I-10 in Ascension Parish early Tuesday afternoon. The sheriff's office reported one lane was closed around noon on LA 22 at LA 70, near a roundabout in Sorrento, as a result of the crash. It's unclear what caused the truck to tip over. No serious injuries have been reported at this time. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Emergency roadwork will slow eastbound traffic approaching Basin Bridge starting Friday

  15-08-2023 14:02
  
  HENDERSON - Emergency roadwork will force I-10 East to go down to one lane at the entrance of the Basin Bridge at multiple intervals starting this Friday and into next week.The roadwork is needed to replace a broken finger joint near the Butte La Rose exit. DOTD says the first closure will happened from the base of the bridge to Lake Pelba starting at 8 p.m. Friday and continuing until noon Tuesday, Aug. 22. The closure will be repeated the following week, starting at 8 p.m. Aug. 25 an
  
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• Woman shot to death in New Roads overnight

  15-08-2023 13:42
  
  NEW ROADS - A woman is dead after a shooting in Pointe Coupee Parish late Monday night.The shooting was reported around 10:40 p.m. on Olinde Street, north of Parent Street. The victim, a 24-year-old woman, was taken to a hospital and later died from her injuries, according to the coroner's office. Police have not publicly identified a suspect or motive in the shooting. Permalink| Comments
  
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• After finding missing man's bones in East Feliciana, deputies arrest BR man suspected of dumping body

  15-08-2023 12:39
  
  BATON ROUGE - More than a month after deputies found bones on a property in East Feliciana Parish, authorities have arrested a man suspected of dumping the human remains. The East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of Kenneth Muse, 28, on Tuesday. The arrest comes after bones were found at a property off River Road in Clinton on June 30, 2023. The remains were later identified as that of Devante Petties, a 27-year-old who disappeared back in summer 2022.&am
  
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• Attorneys ask federal judge to move juveniles out of Angola campus, hearing expected to continue for several days

  15-08-2023 12:11
  
  BATON ROUGE - Teen offenders who have been deemed to out of control for traditional juvenile facilities want out of Angola. The American Civil Liberties Union and others call the children's living conditions at the state penitentiary abusive. On Tuesday, the head director a guard and an instructor all testified. The testimonials touched on cell restrictions, the education program, recreation and overall health. The office of juvenile justice calls the youth facility at Angola
  
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• New Fran U facility simulates real life scenarios for nursing students

  15-08-2023 09:15
  
  BATON ROUGE - We're taking you inside St. Francis Hall in Fran U's new multi-million dollar cornerstone building, a state-of-the-art facility training the healthcare workers of the future.SETH is a 10,000-square-foot simulated learning environment offering resources for a comprehensive simulation healthcare education program. It has the capacity for improvised technology, computer-based simulation, task-training simulation, virtual reality simulation, and manikin-based simulation. It helps to p
  
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• Body found in Mississippi River late Monday night, EBR coroner says

  15-08-2023 08:58
  
  BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner said a body was found in the Mississippi River late Monday. The coroner said the body was found late Monday night along River Road south of Brightside Drive and was pending identification. Deputies with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said they were contacted by the Coast Guard and the office's maritime unit was able to recover the body.The body reportedly appeared to have been in the water for "an extended period of time," the co
  
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• Denver police officer fatally shot a man she thought held a knife. It was a marker

  15-08-2023 08:35
  
  DENVER (AP) — A Denver police officer fatally shot a man who lunged at her with what she thought was a knife. It turned out to be a black marker, investigators said.Body-worn camera video shows the suspect, Brandon Cole, 36, raising the marker to chest level as he closed in on the officer just before she fired two shots at him.“This is a tremendous tragedy,” Chief Ron Thomas said during a news conference Monday. The Denver District Attorney’s Office will
  
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• Gramercy woman dies from injuries received in three-vehicle crash

  15-08-2023 07:59
  
  GRAMERCY - A 31-year-old woman died on the scene of a three-vehicle crash on Airline Highway Monday. According to the Louisiana State Police, Destiny Scott, 31, was driving on the highway when she was rear-ended by another car, causing her to cross the median and hit a truck head-on. Scott's vehicle and the truck both ended up in a nearby canal. The driver of the truck and the car that hit Scott's vehicle both sustained minor injuries, but Scott died from her injuries on the s
  
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• Southern student starts freshman year determined despite mother's 2016 murder

  15-08-2023 07:20
  
  BATON ROUGE - Nearly 400 students are settling into Totty Hall at Southern University ahead of fall classes, and among them is 18-year-old Tyrione Dejoie, who is pressing on despite her mother's death seven years ago.Dejoie has a busy schedule this semester as she plans to double major in early education and business, but she says the hardships she's faced have put her up to the challenge. "In order for you to keep going, you have to dream, you have to manifest, you have to do all type
  
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• Tree falls on powerlines, causes power surge fire that displaces three

  15-08-2023 05:15
  
  BATON ROUGE - Three residents were displaced Monday when a tree fell on nearby powerlines and caused a power surge fire. Firefights said they arrived at the home on Balis Drive Monday evening to find smoke coming from the home. Inside, the fire was already out, but the cause of the fire had been a tree falling on a nearby powerline, which resulted in a power surge. The Red Cross assisted three residents who were displaced. No injuries were reported. Several agencies r
  
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