Suspect commits suicide while in police custody

CARENCRO – A Church Point assistant police chief’s gun was used by a robbery suspect to commit suicide as he sat alone in the back of an unmarked police car Tuesday, officials said.

Church Point Chief Albert Venable and Assistant Chief Carl Thibodeaux picked up Blaine Daigle, 28, of Rayne on Tuesday morning from the Acadia Parish jail. Daigle was being held on a simple burglary charge.

The officers were looking for a stolen safe that was believed to be at a residence in the Carencro area. They apparently were using Daigle’s help in locating the safe.

Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Craig Stansbury said that before Thibodeaux went inside the jail he took out his gun and placed it in the side compartment of the driver’s side door.

He forgot to retrieve it afterward.

As the three men drove to a house in the Carencro area, they called the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office to assist since they did not have jurisdiction in the area.

A deputy met them at the scene. The two chiefs went into the home with the deputy at their side, leaving Daigle unattended in the back seat. The unit was an unmarked police car without a cage that separates the back seat from the front.

Several times, Venable returned to the car, apparently to ask follow-up questions of Daigle. On the final trip Venable found Daigle had shot himself in the chest.

Daigle died Tuesday night at 9:45 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

Chief Venable did not return calls for comment and the department refused to officially release Thibodeaux’s name.

Acadia Parish court records show that Daigle had his run-ins with law enforcement in the past. His past charges included distribution of hydrocodone, unauthorized use of access cards, forgery, trespassing, simple criminal damage and disturbing the peace.