What began as an altercation between a couple, mushroomed into a six-hour standoff between an Abita Springs man and St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputies Saturday into Sunday.
Deputies responded around 10:30 Saturday evening to a home off Jarrell Road.
Upon arrival, deputies spoke with the victim and determined she had been a victim of an aggravated battery perpetrated by her boyfriend, Chester Lucien Rouquette.
Rouquette refused to exit the home when deputies tried to contact him. They believed he had armed himself with a gun.
STPSO SWAT team was dispatched to the scene, and negotiators pleaded with Rouquette for several hours for him to come out of the residence peacefully.
When Rouquette quit responding to negotiators around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning, SWAT Team members forced entry into the residence and took him into custody. A rifle was recovered during a subsequent search of the home.
Rouquette was booked Sunday morning into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on one count of aggravated battery.
Sheriff Randy Smith thanked the deputies and SWAT team members who worked through the night to negotiate with this individual and achieve a peaceful resolution.
“Because of the patience and handwork of all of the deputies and SWAT team members on scene, this standoff ended peacefully and without the loss of life,” Sheriff Smith said. “I applaud our deputies for their hard work and extreme patience.”