BATON ROUGE, La. – How did an intruder manage to get into the Governor’s Mansion and make himself at home?
Louisiana State Police have released a statement saying the agency is “evaluating security procedures for potential areas of improvement.”
According to arrest records and our friends at WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, an officer from the Department of Public Safety was sent to the Mansion shortly before 6 a.m on April 17th. The question of who requested the officer is unknown– whether it was Governor John Bel Edwards himself– or someone else.
The officer discovered that a 34-year old man, identified as Reynard Green, was inside the Mansion, allegedly sleeping on a couch. And apparently Green was clumsy– the arrest report notes that an antique table was found broken nearby.
That arrest report also referred to the location of the alleged break-in as a “governmental building”– without identifying the Mansion– potentially deflecting attention from the seriousness of the crime.
Green faces several charges, including: trespassing, criminal damage to property, and burglary (without naming the item or items), plus battery on a police officer and disarming a police officer– for a scuffle in which Green is accused of trying to grab an officer’s gun as he was booked into the Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
When reporters asked the Governor about the incident, he didn’t say if he and other family members were home at the time.
“I appreciate what the State Police have always done for me and my family, and for keeping us safe,” said Edwards, “At no time were we anything but safe, but beyond that you’re just going to have to wait.”
