A 37 year old man is being held in the Tangipahoa Parish Jail following his apprehension on Monday at Bogue Chitto State Park near Franklinton. The apprehension followed a quick response by four different law enforcement agencies.
James N. Ballard Jr. allegedly held a woman against her will and transported her from Tangipahoa Parish to Washington Parish.
She was able to send text messages of distress to Tangipahoa Parish law enforcement officials Monday afternoon.
Tangipahoa Parish deputies pinged her cell phone and determined that the text messages were coming from an area near where Skeet Club Road meets Highway 16, three miles south of Franklinton.
The Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office was immediately notified by Tangipahoa Parish deputies and asked to respond to the woman’s text messages. Washington Parish dispatch was advised that the suspect in the incident was dangerous. Deputies were dispatched to the area of Highway 16 at Skeet Club Road.
The woman was freed, apparently ok, but Ballard, the suspect, made his escape by running westward toward the Bogue Chitto River. A search for him was launched by Washington Parish deputies. Also involved in the search were Louisiana Probation and Parole agents.
Ballard made it to the river and apparently waded and swam across, reaching the west bank and the main part of Bogue Chitto State Park.
Tracking dogs from Rayburn Correctional Center tracked Ballard to the river. The RCC tracking teams were then moved to the west side of the river to continue the chase.
Meanwhile, deputies and Probation and Parole Agents went to the main part of the State Park, searching for Ballard.
He was spotted by a Probation and Parole agent, who saw him hiding in a ditch alongside the main road through the park.
Once Ballard knew there was no further escape, he meekly came out of the ditch with his hands high above his head. The Probation and Parole agent handcuffed him and he was immediately taken to the Tangipahoa Parish Jail in Amite.
Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal said the response, chase, and apprehension were the result of fast cooperation between his deputies, Tangipahoa deputies, Probation and Parole agents, and the Rayburn Correctional Center tracking teams. From the time Washington Parish was notified of the victim’s distressed text messages to the time Ballard was tracked, apprehended, and then booked into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail was just a matter of hours. And other deputies noted that the difficult search largely occurred in a thick woodland with a river running through it.
Still to be sorted out are jurisdictional matters, with the alleged offense(s) occurring in two different parishes that are in two different judicial districts (21st Judicial District and 22nd Judicial District.). As of this writing, however, Ballard is securely lodged in jail awaiting the proceedings of the justice system.
