Fatal ATV accident sparks threatened protests in Bunkie

The fatal ATV accident on La. Hwy 115 in Bunkie this past Saturday (Aug. 3) has sparked a firestorm of posts on social media, a letter to the local newspaper and a threatened communitywide protest against Bunkie Police Chief Scott Ferguson.

Ferguson said he followed proper procedure and did nothing to cause the unfortunate accident.

Reginald Smith, 20, of Bunkie died at about 1 a.m. Saturday of injuries received when he drove his ATV offroad, reportedly at a high speed, went airborne for about 20 feet and struck an embankment off La. Hwy 115 in Bunkie.

Those basic facts are not in dispute. Why Smith left the road and entered the field -- and whether or not he had his headlights on -- are the basis for the controversy.

FERGUSON COMMENTS

Ferguson said he was on patrol, sitting at the stop sign at St. James Street and Gayle Boulevard, when he heard something coming down the road. He could not see a vehicle on the road. He said he had his windows down to provide better visibility while driving on patrol.

He said he turned to go northbound on Gayle to see if he could identify what was making the noise. A southbound ATV passed him going approximately 60 mph.

Ferguson said that by the time he backed up and turned to follow the ATV, the driver had driven into a driveway and was heading toward a field. He called for assistance to locate the vehicle, expecting the ATV to come out on La. Hwy 115 near the Industrial Park.

Ferguson said he was headed to a likely exit area when a Fire & Rescue unit called to tell him the ATV had hit a ditch in the field. Firemen attempted to find a pulse and did immediate CPR until an ambulance arrived.

Smith was unresponsive at the scene and was taken by ambulance to Bunkie General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Comments about the incident allege Smith was probably pursued by police, drove off the road to evade police and had the fatal accident.

Ferguson said there was no pursuit. It is possible, he noted, that Smith realized the vehicle he passed was a police car. Ferguson could not say for sure whether he had turned his patrol unit lights on before he had turned around to “see tail lights heading for the field.”

REED COMMENTS

In a letter to the editor of the Bunkie Record, Quazeric Reed of Bunkie accuses Ferguson of initiating a pursuit of Smith, who was illegally riding his ATV on a street or highway in town.

“Though Mr. Smith should not have been operating an ATV on the road, if that is indeed the case, there was no need for a thoughtless pursuit that ended in a loss of life,” Reed wrote in his letter.

In that letter, Reed said Smith’s death “has nothing to do with race, but has everything to do with the ignorance, incompetence, lack of training and extremely poor judgment of Chief Scotty Ferguson that led to the death of a great young man of 20 years of age.” 

Contacted by this newspaper for additional information on his complaint, Reed conceded there are no witnesses to the incident to prove his theory that Smith was chased for violating a minor traffic ordinance.

“I was a long-time friend of Reginald and I know he would not have been driving at night without headlights and would not have been going at a high rate of speed unless he were being chased,” Reed said.

He added that if it is proven Smith was driving at a high rate of speed without headlights, “We will accept it, but, what the police are saying just doesn’t sit right. We want the real story and not just someone’s word that this is what happened.”

Reed said Smith’s family, friends, concerned citizens and the NAACP want to see police officer body camera and/or patrol car dashboard camera video of the incident “to learn the truth.”

He said a delegation of concerned citizens will attend the City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 8).

PROTEST PLANNED

Plans are underway to hold a communitywide protest on Monday (Aug. 12), but a time and place has not yet been decided.

“There are at least 300 citizens ready to protest at a moment’s notice to have this police chief removed,” Reed said.

Ferguson was elected in 2018 and comes up for re-election in 2022. To remove him from office would require a recall election. By comparison, an appointed police chief could be removed by the mayor and City Council if the municipal officials conclude a change is needed due to the appointed chief’s actions.

In his letter, Reed indicates critics may be willing to wait for the 2022 election to show their displeasure, saying, “we will not forget. Not in three years. Not ever.”

Among the many Facebook comments posted about the case is a lengthy one by Melanie Coates-Rodriguez Clark.

Among her comments, she opines that “Charlie Candella and Mary (Fanara) on their worst day were better than the past and present chiefs on their best day." Candella and Fanara were the two previous police chiefs prior to Bobby Corner and Ferguson.

“Bunkie,” she continued, “you have to stand up for your town or, one way or the other, something bad will happen.”

Ferguson said the fatal accident was “an unfortunate incident” caused by Smith’s “bad judgment” and “bad decisions.”

He said he did what any police officer would do in those circumstances -- to locate the subject to determine why he would be evading police.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Ferguson said. “He was traveling at 1 a.m. with no headlights going 60 mph.”

Ferguson said it was his duty as a police officer to “investigate to see what was going on” and that he did nothing to cause the fatal accident.