We heard rumors of this incident, and now an arrest has been made. Louisiana State Trooper Eric Schonfarber has been arrested for aggravated assault, simple battery & false imprisonment in a courthouse parking lot incident.District Judge Lewis Sams had left the courthouse in Coushatta for a quick trip and did not use his seat belt. Schonfarber followed him into the parking lot and proceeded to write a ticket. When Judge Sams identified himself as a judge, Schonfarber asked to see his badge and ID. The judge told him no, he wouldn't use his position to get out of the ticket.
At this point, the trooper threatened the judge with his taser and threw him onto the hood of his car. A constable and several courthouse employees witnessed the events.
This happens all the time, if it was anyone but a judge we never would hear about it
ReplyDeleteOk, I am not familiar with this case,but some things don't add up here. 1. Why would the judge identify himself as a judge unless he wanted some sort of favor on the ticket. Then he wouldn't show his credentials? He says because he didn't want to use his influence to get out of the ticket? 2 Why did the trooper ask for the credentials? And why the scuffel afterwards? Could it be that impersonating a judge is illegal and by refusing to present his credentials that is what led to the arrest? Will there be an arrest later for resisting arrest? Just speculating.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about why he mentioned he was a judge too. Just take your ticket and go.
ReplyDeleteCome on. This was in Coushatta. The trooper knew full well who the judge was.
ReplyDeleteGood point Todd.
ReplyDeleteIs it "possibe" that the trooper did not know the judge? Was this trooper from the Shreveport office? Has he had dealings with the judge before? Todd, I agree that he may have known him. Sometimes when I see someone outside of their normal place of business and normal work attire, I don't know who they are. especially if I am not around them all the time. There is always the possibilty that there is something that happened before that led the trooper to target the judge for a traffic stop. I am not defending either individual. But there seems to me to be more here than a rogue cop. When you raise kids, you figure out that when one kid tells a story and the other, there is probably more to it. Time will tell with this story.
ReplyDeleteOk, after reading an article on ktbs.com, the officer asked where the judge work, which apparently is a normal question. The judge responded that he was a judge and then the officer asked for id. The judge would not comply, then things got out of hand. Now the question is, why did the officer have to get physical? I think the only reason for the physical portion of this would be if the judge was resisting arrest. That would not make sense, because he ended up with just the ticket. I think that once an officer makes up his mind to arrest someone there is no changing his mind. Sounds like the officer is in deep this time.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason Judge Sams told him who he was is because the trooper asked him where he worked! He didn't volunteer the information. I hope the trooper gets in big trouble. They all think they are above the law.
ReplyDeleteI know Judge Sams personally. He is a nice person. He just wanted the ticket. He didn't wanted to be treated any different from anyone else. He felt like he deserved the ticket.The trrper way way out of line. This is probably not his first time to act like an ass!
ReplyDeleteits all over now. attorney general drops charges at "judge's request". i smell manure a mile away. betcha the judge saw the error of his ways and wanted to save his ass. gotta admit getting cop arrested is a great way to get over on him and get rid of a ticket too
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