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UPDATE: Sheriff's Office adds more charges

Trenten Perry is facing more charges after he allegedly stole a van with a baby in the backseat.
Perry is accused of stealing a van parked at Maltrait Memorial School in Kaplan. The mother had left the van running and unlocked while she went inside to get another child, leaving her baby in a car seat in the back.

Kaplan Police charged Perry, who is in his early 20s, with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated flight, and motor vehicle theft. His total bond for these charges is just over $2 million.
This weekend, Perry was moved to the Vermilion Parish jail, where the Sheriff’s Office added six more charges. His total bond is now just over $2.1 million.
The new charges include aggravated flight from an officer (bond: $50,000), two counts of hit and run (total bond: $20,000), aggravated criminal damage to property (bond: $25,000), reckless operation of a vehicle (bond: $5,000), and aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce (bond: $15,000).

An Abbeville mother faced a terrifying situation that could have ended much worse.
Earlier this week, a mother went to Maltrait Memorial School in Kaplan to pick up one of her children.
Kaplan Police Chief Josh Hardy said she left her van running and unlocked when she got out. Her baby was in a car seat in the backseat.
When she returned, her van and her baby were gone.
She called 911 to report what happened, and they contacted the Kaplan Police Department.
Kaplan Police found the van driving through town and started a chase that ended in Abbeville.
The Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville Police joined the chase. Officers stopped the van near McDonald’s in Abbeville. The driver ran but was caught, and the baby was found safe in the car seat.
It was not known at presstime if Perry knew there was a baby in the backseat.
Police arrested Trenten Perry, who lives in Abbeville and was recently in jail.
Perry, who is in his early 20s, faces charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated flight, and motor vehicle theft. His bond for all three charges is just over $2 million.
Perry is expected to be transferred to the parish jail this weekend.
Hardy said the chase reached speeds of 80 to 85 miles per hour.
The van also had major damage on its side.

Update

Charles Guidry has enjoyed an incredible career as a sugarcane farmer.
Along with his wife of 41 years, Wanda, he credits that to two things: receiving an education and eventually having the ability to be his own boss.
Guidry, who operates Charles Guidry Farm, recently spoke to members of the Rotary Club of Abbeville. Guidry, one of nine children in his family, told club members about the advice his father gave him that set him on his path.
“My dad told me that once you get an education,” Guidry said, “you can do just about anything that you want to do. I did that.”
Guidry, a Vermilion Parish native, attended Herod Elementary School and Herod High School in Abbeville before transferring to Paul Breaux High School in Lafayette. After graduating from high school in 1964, Guidry enrolled at Grambling State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1968. Guidry eventually earned his master’s degree in education from Texas Southern University in Houston in ‘73. He received an honorary doctorate degree in business from Grambling in 2015.
Guidry entered the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam after being drafted in ‘69. During his service, Guidry received the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal for meritorious achievement in aerial flight. He also earned the Army Commendation medal for meritorious achievement.
After an honorable discharge from the Army, Guidry entered the classroom as a teacher. His stops included Herod Elementary and Edgar Martin Middle School in Lafayette. Guidry wanted something more, something he always wanted, and eventually stepped away from the classroom.
“I left the education field to pursue my lifelong ambition of operating a large farm enterprise,” Guidry told Rotarians. “My main goal was to own a business. I invested my money, not in stocks and bonds, but in farm land and equipment.”
What started with 50 to 60 acres has grown to more than 4,000 acres in Vermilion and Lafayette Parishes. His operation includes numerous tractors and employees.
“When you own your own business,” Guidry said, “it does something to you. It changes your life. You control your destiny, and you change your income. Once your income changes, you can do more.
“That’s just what I did.”

If you drive past the Amazon Building on North Airport Road, you’ll notice a new facility going up. Right now, the cement is poured and the steel beams are in place.
Chad Vallo, the newly elected Police Jury president, recently educated Vermilion Parish Chamber members at its annual “state of the parish” breakfast about what was being built.
Vallo explained that a new “Emergency Operations 911 Communication Center” is being built. The total square footage is 11,000 at an $8 million price tag.
The communication center is expected to be finished by the end of 2026. Federal grants will cover $6 million of the cost.
The remaining $2 million will come from the parish’s 1976 and 1978 sales tax fund and the 911 fund.
It will house the 911 Department, the Office of Emergency Preparedness, and the parish’s Fire Protection Association. The building will also include a room where meetings with parish officials, as well as with fire and police departments, could take place before and after a hurricane.
Vallo said the facility will have 36 to 42 beds for first responders and others. It is designed to withstand winds up to 160 miles per hour.
“I hope that we never have to use it,” Vallo said, “but we are building an OEP/911 safe room for hurricane preparedness. As a sheriff’s deputy for 35 years, anytime we had a storm come through, we had to make a makeshift where we were going to set up for response. It was always trouble finding where we were going to put everybody for the response we would need.”
In the past for hurricanes, emergency personnel and parish officials held meetings in the court house and slept in court rooms when needed.
Once construction is complete, everyone will be able to meet in the new building.
After 911 and OEP move out of the courthouse, those spaces may be used by the district attorney’s office, judges, or the clerk of court.

MAURICE — James Trevor Voorhies of Youngsville showed he was not the most careful criminal in South Louisiana.
Last week, Voorhies was seen on video allegedly taking a purse from the back of a chair at City Bar in Maurice.
A camera behind the bar shows a man who looks like Voorhies sitting at the bar, with the purse hanging from the same chair. He orders a drink, finishes it, and pays with a credit card under the name James Trevor Voorhies.
The video shows what seems to be Voorhies taking the purse and hiding it under his shirt, near his stomach.
After paying his bill, the man gets up and leaves, holding the purse close to his stomach, the straps hanging down by his legs.
The lady who had the purse went back to her seat only to discover it was gone. She had been standing and chatting about 15 feet away from her purse the whole time.
She told City Bar owner Elliot Guidry about the theft, and they checked the surveillance footage. Maurice City Police were then called to the bar. The stolen purse was found outside City Bar the next morning.
Maurice City Police got a warrant for the person whose name was on the credit card used to buy alcohol.
After the arrest warrant was issued, Voorhies’ name was added to the state’s database.
On Friday, Voorhies was stopped by DeRidder Police for a traffic violation. They found he had warrants for his arrest.
The DeRidder Police Department charged Voorhies with these crimes.

• Possession of CDC Schedule II
• Possession of drug paraphernalia;
• Resisting an officer;
• No insurance
• No registration
• Turning movements and required signals

The DeRidder Police Department informed Maurice City Police about Voorhies’ arrest in Allen Parish. DeRidder Police placed a hold on him, and Maurice Police will later bring him back to face theft charges, among others.
Before Voorhies’ arrest, City Bar posted a video on Facebook of Voorhies allegedly taking the purse and walking out with it.
City Bar updated its Facebook page two days later, saying Voorihies has been arrested in DeRidder. They also thanked the community for its support.
“We are beyond thankful for our community … the tips, shares, and messages truly helped lead law enforcement in the right direction. This is exactly why City Bar will always feel like home.
“Thank you to local law enforcement for handling this quickly and professionally, and thank you to our community for showing up like always.”