ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) – Abbeville citizens will see an increase in police patrol during larger events held at AA Comeaux Parks & Recreation. This comes after the council in a meeting earlier in June decided to take proactive measures to make the park safe after an explosive argument between two adults created chaos and panic within the community. 

“Let's always remember we're doing this for the children and let's let the adults give an example of how you should behave. So increased patrols are going to make everybody happy and if everybody's cooperating, it's going to be wonderful for the children. That's what this park is for,” said Councilman Brady Broussard of District C. 

Councilman Broussard said Mayor Rosyln White and the city council have discussed possibly increasing patrol where the park is home to the travel ball industry which brings hundreds or thousands of people to the city.  He said after meeting with the chief of police Mike Hardy increased patrol for the area was welcome. 

“All of our shifts now know if there's a tournament going on, we know there are 25, 30, 40 teams sometime. So that's four or five or 600 extra people in town. So we're going to make an effort to make sure we pass pretty often. If they need anything, we'll be there. Sometimes you'll see one extra car riding around, sometimes you'll see two or three cars just patrolling in that area because they know there's a concentration of people in their area,” said Chief Hardy. “We want the people to feel comfortable that we are paying attention to what's going on.

He adds, “We want everybody to have a good time, but this is for the kids and we want everybody to be civil about it. We want them to be adults about it and this is just making it safe for everyone.” 

Councilman Brady said the park has a splash pad, skateboard park, tennis, pickleball, jogging, running, softball, and baseball. Therefore, he said, “We want parks to be a haven for our children and our family and we're not going to put up with any disturbances in those places.” 

In regards to the investigation with APD Chief Hardy said warrants were issued to the people involved and they turned themselves in. 

“We notified the people and they came in and bonded out and they'll take care of it through court,” he said. 

One of the people was Angelique Soelv. She tells us she was charged with disturbing the peace and terrorizing. 

The Vermilion Parish NAACP Unit #6276 sent out a statement. They are investigating a complaint against Quality Sports Authority (QSA) in reference to a disturbance on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, between parents during a youth All-Star baseball game in AA Comeaux Park in Abbeville, Louisiana. Also, a racial slur was used during the disturbance. QSA suspended the youth baseball players due to their parents being involved in the disturbance and players were not involved in the disturbance, but they are being held accountable for their parent’s actions. Any person that was present at this baseball game and would like to provide information, please send an email to naacp6276@gmail.com and an investigator will call you. 

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