A Eunice man planning to avoid jail for unpaid child support by staging his own robbery was nearly killed in the process.
Eunice police officers responded to a report of a man being shot in the chest. During the investigation, Michael Rung claimed a someone took his wallet before the shot was fired.
It turned out to be all a ruse.
Rung was scheduled to be in court the morning following the incident. But, Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot says when taking a statement from Rung, some things just didn't add up.
“It was kind of odd and fishy and our suspicions were already high, so we kept digging until we uncovered the truth,” Fontenot said.
The truth was that Rung didn’t act alone in the setup. His friend Jacob Jack is now accused of acting as the trigger man. Fontenot says he’s not sure how Rung convinced Jack to go through with the plan.
“The two are friends and that’s the only thing I can think of is that he wanted to do it as a friendly gesture,” said Fontenot.
He says Rung is lucky to be alive.
“He suffered some broken ribs and a punctured lung, so he took a risk to stay out of jail and avoid paying child support.”
