The Lafayette Police Department is investigating a woman’s claims that a mounted patrol horse injured her in downtown Lafayette.
The woman says a Lafayette Police horse shoved her into a brick pillar. Authorities have not verified her statements but say the complaint is being processed by the internal affairs department.
“No matter what the situation is, you don’t hit nobody with a horse”, Javada Goodwin said as she strolled Rue Jefferson Wednesday. It was a little harder after she claims a Lafayette Police Department horse and an officer injured her after midnight on October 7th.
“Saturday night about 2:00 am, I was walking out of club legacy with my friends”, Goodwin read at the beginning of her statement.
She’s asking the department to look into what she says shouldn’t have happened. “Next thing I knew, I flew into a brick pillar at Greenwood Shoes with a horse pushing me constantly”, Goodwin attested.
The Mounted Patrol Unit’s website says the presence of a horse and it’s mounted officer is “Equivalent to 20 officers on foot”, especially in crowd control.
They regularly are used in downtown lafayette to clear the streets when the bars close.
That’s what they were doing around 2:00 A.M. when they would have encountered Goodwin and her friends.
“The whole ordeal should have never happened”, says Goodwin’s friend, who didn’t want to show be identified. She says the alleged injury happened while she paused their trip back to their cars to remove her high heels.
“As I’m trying to take off my shoes, the police officers are yelling, “Keep it moving. Keep it moving”, she claims.
Goodwin said the horse approached from behind and, “Next thing I know, I flew. This is where I landed. This is where I was. This brick pillar”.
Arrest records show goodwin’s boyfriend was arrested for interfering with a police animal and refusing to leave:
Name: Terrance B Harrison
Age: 28
Arrest Date & Time: Oct 06, 2019 2:22 am
Charge: Interference With Dogs Utiliz , Enter/Remain In Places/On Land,
Arresting Agency: LAFAYETTE CITY PD
Cause for Arrest: SUBJECT WAS ARRESTED AFTER BEING WHERE HE WAS ASKED TO LEAVE
“Who would leave their girlfriend hurting there? Nobody in their right mind”, Goodwin argued.
We contacted the Lafayette Police Department about Goodwin’s complaint. They issued a statement saying, “A complaint has been filed with our department by a person regarding claims of injury by an LPD horse”. Their internal affairs department is investigating that complaint.
Goodwin went on to say that she was not offered medical treatment by the mounted officer or his supervisor for a bruised leg and sprained an ankle.
She said, “We don’t want to go out and worry about getting hurt. Somethings are just wrong, and that was wrong”.
The mounted patrol units website highlights these horse’s “Gentle disposition” “Docile nature” and “Intelligence”. They are also public relations ambassadors visiting schools and nursing homes.
The mounted unit currently houses five horses. Lafayette police created the unit in two-thousand-five.
