Benefit creates parking dilemma

For the past two weeks Crowley and Acadia Parish have rallied around the Thompson and Habetz families following the tragic accident on Friday, March 6, which claimed the life of Halle Thompson and left Brooke Habetz with very serious injuries.
This past Saturday, a fundraiser was held in front of O’Reilly’s Auto to raise money for the growing medical bills of Brooke Habetz. There was an overflow crowd that day and several of the vehicles filled the parking lot of PJ’s Grill.
The manager on duty was forced to call Peter Boulet, PJ’s owner, to inform him of the situation. It wasn’t the first time that Boulet has been faced with a similar problem.
“I wasn’t there,” Boulet said. “My manager called me and I told him to call the police to direct traffic out of our parking lot so that our customers could get to our business.”
That’s when Boulet, who admits that he rarely uses Facebook, learned something of the power of social media.
“My son began calling me and telling me what was being said about me on Facebook,” he said. “Many of these posts were personal attacks on me and my family. I’m thinking to myself ‘these people don’t even know me.’”
When the police arrived, a misunderstanding ensued, and then the Facebook posts began..
“There were people blaming me for personally shutting down the benefit,” Boulet said. “I just wanted the cars moved from our lot.”
One woman, Ann Borill of Crowley, said that when the police arrived they “pulled up like the mafia to shut us down.” Another stated that Boulet has never been a person to support worthy causes in the area, which he vehemently denied.
“My father is the one who taught me that I should support worthy causes and I have done so on many occasions ... I want to emphasize that,” Boulet said.
As for the police response, according to one of the responding officers and Chief of Police K.P. Gibson, the officers were sent to simply ask the people who were parked in PJ’s lot to move their vehicles and to help direct them safely out of the lot.
“It’s a sad situation that this all got started on Facebook and then people who aren’t even there inflame the situation by putting in their two cents,” said Boulet. “I especially want the Habetz family to know that I support them. I’ve been praying for that young girl and her family.”
Boulet, however, was curious about the ordinance which allows people representing non-profit organizations to sell food alongside Parkerson Avenue. Asked about the ordinance, Crowley Mayor Greg Jones explained that the group was a non-profit organization, despite what anyone read on Facebook.
He also supported both Gibson’s and Boulet’s statement.
“Peter Boulet did not shut down the fundraiser,” he said.
Jones also mentioned that he, Gibson and City Attorney Tom Regan would be taking a close look at the ordinance to see if any changes should be made.
Boulet said that he hopes the Habetz family would contact him so that he could explain what happened Saturday.