White Opelousas Cop Charged w/5 Felonies is On Paid Leave After Brutal Unprovoked Assault on Black Teen Restrained to Hospital Bed: Ct Docs say He Repeatedly Punched & Choked Teen Not Under Arrest

From [HERE] and [HERE] Opelousas Police Sgt. Tyron Andrepont will keep his job for the immediate future, even with five pending felony charges related to his alleged unprovoked felony assaults of a defenseless Black teenager who was retained to hospital bed.

Mayor Julius Alsandor said Andrepont will remain on paid leave until a departmental investigation wraps up, at which time the elected police chief, Martin McLendon, will present the findings to City Council. The council must approve any decision to terminate Andrepont. He has been on paid administrative leave since Opelousas Police Chief Martin McLendon was notified about the incident in November. Sergeant Tyron Andrepont (49) turned himself in on June 9, 2020. He has since been released on a $25,000 bond. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim or the victim’s family. He also is not allowed to be in possession of a firearm, according to court records. [MORE]

A hospital surveillance camera filmed as Opelousas Police Sgt. Tyron Andrepont repeatedly struck and applied a choke hold to a restrained black teenager in October 2019, court documents said. He attacked the teenager on 3 separate occasions.

On Oct. 30, Andrepont responded to Opelousas General Hospital’s south campus, where 18-year-old Jonah Coleman was receiving treatment in the hospital’s emergency room. Coleman had been taken to the hospital by his family at the request of his parents and was not in police custody, McLendon and the teen's attorney said. 

Louisiana State Police Investigator Mark Fournet reported footage from Coleman’s treatment room in the hospital’s emergency facility showed the teenager tried to get out of bed several times [which is not illegal]

At time stamp 7:18, Andrepont rushed toward Coleman, struck him in the face with his right hand and Coleman’s head snapped back. Andrepont reached for Coleman again but didn’t make contact, then pushed down on Coleman’s neck and upper chest before putting his hand on Coleman’s neck and pushing him away, the affidavit said.

At time stamp 7:37, Andrepont grabbed Coleman’s right leg and pushed his leg up and toward Coleman’s head. Five minutes later, Andrepont put his right hand on Coleman’s neck, pushing his head down. He maintained his hold on Colemna’s neck, according to court documents. At 8:32, Andrepont grabbed Coleman’s neck with his right hand and pushed his head down while maintaining “his hold on Jonah’s neck.” At 9:51, Fournet reported that Andrepont put his right arm around Coleman’s neck in a choke hold, the documents said.

Finally, at 10:18 p.m., Andrepont “held the handcuff that was still attached to Jonah’s right wrist and pulled it to the rear, extending Jonah’s arm.”

After reviewing Fournet’s report and the video, St. Landry Parish District Attorney’s Investigator J. Rene Speyrer wrote: “It is my opinion that Sgt. Tyron Andrepont, working as an officer with the Opelousas Police Department, committed several acts of battery on Jonah Shyheem Coleman Jr….”

McLendon said he was alerted by hospital staff about the incident in early November. He said staff told him about concerns that unnecessary force was used by an officer, potentially criminal behavior by the officer. McLendon said he immediately placed Andrepont on paid leave and asked state police to investigate.

Coleman’s Dallas-based attorney Daryl K. Washington said Andrepont used excessive force and treated his client in an “inhumane manner” as he “totally overreacted” by escalating the situation to violence when his client was not a threat to hospital staff, Washington said.

The St. Landry Parish chapter of the NAACP is calling for the firing of Andrepont, who was charged this month with five counts of felony malfeasance in connection with his handling of an October 2019 call to Opelousas General Health System’s south campus. [MORE]