‘Going to Blow Your F***ing Head Off!’: Louisiana Deputy Held Father and Children at Gunpoint, Threaten to Shoot Dad After Suspecting Family of Dropping Contraband at Prison, Lawsuit Says
An appeals court has ruled that a trial should move forward for a Louisiana father’s excessive force claim against a sheriff’s deputy accused of holding him and his children at gunpoint four years ago after following them in an unmarked vehicle.
The appeals court opinion includes the allegations laid out in a federal lawsuit filed by Wesley Pigott and his family.
The complaint alleges that Pigott was driving his two teenage children and his son’s two friends on April 17, 2020, in Alexandria, Louisiana, when he noticed he was being followed for several miles.
After he pulled into an empty parking lot, the pursuer followed him and parked his car behind Pigott’s truck.
Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Paul Gintz exited the unmarked car, drew his gun, and demanded Pigott to put his hands up and “get the f*** out of the truck,” according to the suit.
The complaint states that Gintz pointed his gun at Pigott, his then-17-year-old daughter, who was in the passenger seat, and his then-15-year-old son and two younger kids, who were sitting in the bed of the truck.
According to the complaint, Gintz didn’t initially inform Pigott he was a law enforcement officer but kept shouting commands. Pigott’s daughter testified that she thought they were being robbed.
Pigott asserted that Gintz pointed his gun close to Pigott’s forehead before commanding him to keep his hands raised and turn around to face his truck. The complaint also states that when Pigott turned around, Gintz pressed the barrel of his weapon against the back of his head while asking him a series of questions.
At one point, when Pigott tried to turn toward Gintz to answer a question, Gintz allegedly yelled, “If you turn around again, I’m going to blow your f***ing head off.”
The complaint states that the children were crying and cowering in fear as they witnessed the terrifying encounter unfold. Pigott’s son also begged Gintz, “Please don’t shoot my daddy,” according to ACLU attorneys representing the family.
After a few minutes, another deputy, identified as Deputy Lacaze in court documents, arrived at the scene. Lacaze asked for Pigott’s driver’s license, and Pigott allowed him and Gintz to do a cursory search of his car, where they saw nothing suspicious.
Pigott was allowed to go free afterward.
Court filings state the encounter lasted roughly 11 minutes from the time Gintz followed Pigott into the parking lot.
Pigott and his family filed a lawsuit against Gintz the year after the incident, claiming unreasonable seizure and excessive force, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery.
In April 2023, Gintz requested a judge make a summary judgment based on qualified immunity. A summary judgment motion requests a court to decide a case without a trial if the party making the motion believes there are no material facts in a case to dispute.
In November 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted Gintz’s request and dismissed Pigott’s complaint.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal and revived the lawsuit this month. The court ruled that Pigott’s claims of excessive force should be heard at trial proceedings. However, appeals court judges did side with the district court’s dismissal of Pigott’s unreasonable seizure claims, agreeing that he and his family were not seized for an inordinate amount of time.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Pigotts alongside the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center, contests that Gintz’s use of excessive force was racially motivated.
Attorneys allege that Gintz followed Pigott, who is white, after seeing his two Black children and their two Hispanic friends in the truck.
Why did Gintz follow Pigott?
Pigott asserted in his lawsuit that shortly before his encounter with Gintz on April 17, 2020, he and his daughter picked up his son and two of his friends from a fishing outing.
Pigott and his daughter worked at a local Huddle House where he supervised inmates from the Rapides Parish Detention Center who are part of a work-release program. After Pigott picked up the other children, Pigott’s daughter asked her father if she could visit the prison to see where their fellow workmates lived.
Court documents say that Pigott drove by the facility, briefly entered the parking lot, and drove off. Gintz, a supervisor at the RPDC, testified that two other deputies saw Pigott’s truck drive by and notified Gintz, citing concerns that the driver may have tried to drop off contraband or aid in the escape of a detainee.
When Gintz walked outside, he saw Pigott’s Ford F-250, then immediately got into his personal vehicle and followed Pigott. Gintz admitted that he drove his personal car because he did not have time to grab the keys for a marked vehicle.
An investigation later conducted by the Internal Affairs Division of the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office found that Gintz abandoned his post as a supervisor, pursued a truck in his personal vehicle counter to department policy, and improperly drew his weapon and pointed it at Pigott, according to court documents.
Shortly after the Pigotts left the parking lot, Pigott’s daughter told her father someone was following him. Pigott changed lanes to confirm this, and after being followed for 10 minutes, he pulled into another parking lot to determine the reason for the pursuit.
Once Pigott was cleared of any suspicious activity, the second deputy who arrived at the scene told Pigott that the prison had previously had issues with people driving by and throwing contraband over the fence.
However, according to the appeals court’s opinion, “Deputy Gintz conceded that neither he nor any other deputy at the RPDC saw the occupants of the truck throw anything from the vehicle or commit any other illegal act.”
Is there video evidence of the encounter?
Much of the interaction between Pigott and Gintz was not captured on video or body camera footage.
Gintz was not wearing a body-worn camera. But the other deputy who was called to the scene had his body camera activated when he arrived, so the only video evidence shows the final moments of the encounter.
Gintz denied claims that he pointed his firearm closely at Pigott’s forehead or the back of his head and also denied threatening to shoot the father of two. He also denied ever pointing the weapon at the children.
He testified that he only pulled his weapon after Pigott didn’t initially comply with his commands to leave his truck. When he did draw his gun, he stated that he held it at a “low-ready position” throughout the entire encounter.
Deputy Lacaze stated that when he got to the scene, he saw Gintz with his weapon drawn and “ready” but “not pointed at anyone.”
According to court filings, the footage from Lacaze’s camera “shows Gintz standing several feet behind Mr. Pigott with his left hand outstretched towards Mr. Pigott’s back and his right hand holding his firearm, which was raised up to his chest and pointed directly at Mr. Pigott’s back at a slight downward angle.”
Gintz testified that the children were doing nothing threatening during the encounter. Lacaze also testified that neither Pigott nor the children exhibited threatening behavior.
The appeals court determined that the district court didn’t consider that “Pigotts were compliant and not actively resisting or attempting to flee” after choosing to dismiss the lawsuit.
Appeals court judges also stated that Gintz drawing his gun constituted as use of force even if he didn’t fire the weapon.
Pigott testified that after the incident, he developed paranoia around law enforcement. His daughter also began having nightmares and could not sleep alone for a year, which prompted the family’s decision to get her a service dog.
Pigott’s son also said he previously wanted to be a game warden, but the encounter with Gintz eroded his trust in law enforcement.
According to the Miami Herald, Gintz is still employed as a deputy with the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office.