Posted on October 21, 2016

Mom and Children Arrested After Officers Attacked in Port Barre, Officers Hospitalized

Alicia Serrano, WBRZ, October 19, 2016

Two police officers were hospitalized after they were attacked in a neighborhood while trying to investigate a hit-and-run crash.

Police were called to the 100 block of East Courtableau in Port Barre in reference to a person driving recklessly. The driver lost control, struck a tree and a parked vehicle and then drove off. Officers were able to find the vehicle at a nearby home.

Lybeth Hardy and her 15-year-old son answered the door of the home, but started cursing at officers telling them to leave. They refused to answer questions and would not allow them to speak with Hardy’s husband, who was the owner of the vehicle, since he was sleeping.

Lybeth Hardy

Lybeth Hardy

According to police, Hardy told the officers that she was in the vehicle with her children, but would not tell officers who was driving. Police say that others from the neighborhood began approaching the officers as the teenager continued to curse and threaten them.

The officers tried to arrest Hardy, but the crowd, consisting of adults, teens and children, started screaming at the police and approached them in an aggressive manner. Police say that the officers began to use pepper spray to defend themselves from the crowd.

Hardy’s 15-year-old son, then picked up a fishing pole and struck the officer in the head, knocking him to the ground and continued to strike him. The teen ran after the officer pulled out his gun and aimed it at the teen.

According to Chief Deon Boudreaux, the other officer was struck with a metal chair and a bicycle was also used on one of the officers. The officers were both taken to the hospital, one with head injuries and one with an arm injury.

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