EPSO arrests VP bondsman for criminal mischief; Basile correctional employee jailed

On September 30, Ville Platte bondsman James Bertrand, 70, was forced to bond his own self out of jail after being arrested by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Bertrand, who is also a bounty hunter, showed up at a man’s house who owed him money for being bailed out of jail.
After the man that Bertrand bonded out of jail failed to meet with Bertrand to pay him his bond fees, Bertrand then took it upon himself to go collect the fees from the man. When Bertrand arrived at the man’s home no one would come out of the house.
Determined to receive his money, Bertrand then flipped the breaker of the home and caused the electricity to turn off in an attempt to lure the individual out of his house. Since Bertrand could not block both doors to the home by himself, he proceeded to block one door with a chair while he guarded the other.
A complaint was made to Detective Allen James with the EPSO concerning the situation. Bertrand was arrested, booked in the parish jail, and charged with criminal mischief, false imprisonment, and interference with utility services. Bertrand was released from jail that same day on a $15,000.00 bond.
Also recently arrested by the EPSO was Kelby Javon Ardoin, 22, of Ville Platte.
Ardoin, who was employed at the South Louisiana Correctional Center in Basile, was arrested on September 17 after a complaint was made that Ardoin had made sexual advances on an inmate at the Basile prison.
After issuing a warrant for Ardoin’s arrest, he was then located in Calcasieu Parish where he was picked up and transported to the Evangeline Parish jail.
Ardoin has been charged with two counts of malfeasance in office by sexual conduct prohibited with persons in custody. Ardoin was released from the parish jail on a $5,000.00 bond.