Rapides Parish Police Jury Sues Acadian Ambulance Over Response Time Failures. The Rapides Parish Police Jury has filed a 22-count lawsuit in Rapides Parish District Court against Acadian Ambulance Service, the parish’s former sole emergency medical provider for more than 30 years, alleging systematic misreporting of response times over a six-year period. Court documents filed August 12 allege that Acadian improperly omitted an average of one-third of all emergency calls from its monthly compliance reports, citing “excess calls” as justification. After the police jury reviewed 240 compliance reports dating to 2019 and restored the excluded calls, attorneys say Acadian met the required response time standard only 14 times over six years. In areas such as Pineville, where ambulances were required to respond to life-threatening calls within eight minutes, Acadian reportedly met that benchmark as little as 40 percent of the time in some months. Acadian responded that it has reached out on numerous occasions to parish counsel since August 2025 to resolve the dispute and welcomes mediation under fair terms.

Louisiana Board of Ethics Files Suit to Block Ball Mayoral Candidate. The Louisiana Board of Ethics filed an electoral suit in the 9th Judicial District Court challenging Ball Alderman Marc Mercer’s eligibility to appear on the November 3 mayoral ballot. The suit comes after a separate resident challenge was dismissed for lack of evidence earlier this month. The Board of Ethics suit centers on allegations that Mercer failed to disclose outstanding ethics fees on required election documents. An independent review of the Board of Ethics database found Mercer owes approximately $2,975 in assessed fines, fees, and penalties for late campaign finance and personal financial disclosure filings dating to 2019, with an additional $475 referred to the Louisiana Attorney General’s office. Mercer declined to comment, saying he had not yet been served with official court documents.

Oakdale Man Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Impersonating DEA Agent. John Gueringer, 51, of Oakdale, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James D. Cain Jr. after pleading guilty to impersonating a federal officer. According to court records, on July 22, 2024, Oakdale Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance at a residence where they encountered Gueringer wearing a lanyard bearing what appeared to be an authentic DEA badge. Gueringer repeatedly identified himself as a federal agent and instructed officers to contact the DEA in an apparent effort to avoid arrest. Investigators confirmed he had no affiliation with the agency. Gueringer admitted he acted with intent to mislead law enforcement.