ST. CHARLES PARISH (WGNO) – A St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s deputy described as soft-spoken and a family man was shot three times Thursday in an apparent ambush while the deputy was working a traffic detail in Paradis.
Clp. Burt Hazeltine was shot three times, once in the left eye, right arm near the elbow and in the chest. At a press conference, Thursday afternoon St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said Hazeltine was in stable but guarded condition. He also said Hazeltine has a bullet lodged behind his left eye and will most likely not see out of that eye again.
Hazeltine is currently at University Hospital in New Orleans.
Champagne said deputy Hazeltine is “known for wearing a bulletproof vest,” but unfortunately he choose not to wear it Thursday while directing traffic in a school zone near the intersection of Highway 90 and Louisiana Street.
Background
Deputy Hazeltine worked in the St. Charles Parish Sheriff Department for the last 12-years — his entire career. He graduated from Destrehan High School and Louisiana State University. Hazeltine married with four children.
Sheriff Greg Champagne said Hazeltine was one of few drug recognition certified experts in the state. He loved to do his job and arrest people for drugs and alcohol offenses.
“(He) probably arrests more drunk drivers in St. Charles Parish than anyone else recently,” Champagne said.
What happened
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Burt Hazeltine was shot multiple times while on a traffic detail in a school zone. The suspect, 58-year-old John Paul Devillier is in police custody.
Devillier allegedly started an argument with Hazeltine through his car window when Hazeltine didn’t stop traffic so he could make a left turn, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said.
A short time later, Devillier drove back to a Time Saver gas station near the intersection and called Hazeltine over. Hazeltine drew his weapon when he noticed a handgun on Devillier’s dashboard.
Champagne said Devillier then held the gun out of the window in a non-threatening matter, only to fire another gun through the window at deputy Hazeltine.
Hazeltine was shot 3 times.
Champagne said Hazeltine was able to return fire hitting Devillier’s pick-up truck.
Deputies quickly rushed to the scene and arrested Devillier who surrendered peacefully.
Devillier was fired from the TSA in 2013 for bad behavior and previously arrested for assault and domestic battery in Mississippi. Champagne said Devillier got a divorce in 2013 and was currently living at a hotel in Gulfport, Miss.
State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputies, and New Orleans Police officers blocked traffic on Interstate-10 as the injured deputy was rushed to the hospital.
Several area schools were put on lockdown immediately after the incident.
Weird details
During the time, Devillier first spoke with deputy Hazeltine and returned to the scene he called the sheriff’s office.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said Devillier called the sheriff’s office and demanded to speak to the chief deputy. Devillier allegedly told the operator he was an NCIS agent and needed the sheriff to come to the Time Saver gas station near where Hazeltine was working his detail.
In that traffic detail, Hazeltine assisted school buses in making safe turns off of Highway 90 from JB Martin Middle School, Champagne said.
Eyewitness
Robert Doublat told WGNO reporter Erin Nicole he was inside the gas station when the shooting happened.
