MAMOU, La. (KLFY) — A Mamou city councilman has accused a local activist of criminal trespassing on his property, leading to an ongoing investigation by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Mamou City Councilman Derrell Thomas made a complaint against Rufus Searile, claiming that Seraile trespassed on his family’s property. Searile denies the accusation, stating he was on the street the entire time and is now facing a warrant for criminal trespassing.

“What they did is illegal, I’m on the street, I’m on the street the whole time, and you can see me taking pictures and making videos, I’m in my car,” said Seraile.

The incident happened on Friday. Seraile says he went to Thomas’s father’s property on Fusilier Street to take pictures of the property for the family of a woman who was seeking insurance from the councilman. The woman was allegedly injured during a trail ride hosted at one of Thomas’s properties back in February.

In a video sent to News 10 by Seraile, it shows Searile inside of his car while Thomas is outside of his car. You could hear the councilman tell Searile to get out his vehicle. You could then hear Thomas tell the property owners to block Searile’s car. Seraile says he tried to move his vehicle but felt the councilman impeded his travel.

“Here come this red truck, just pulling out in front of me and block me in, so I didn’t know who it or what was going on, but then I seen the passenger door open and then when I look I see a male get down from the driver’s side, come around the truck, and I notice its Derrell “Sheaky” Thomas,” said Searile.

On Tuesday, Searile says he was served a warrant for criminal trespassing and also had his cell phone confiscated by authorities to determine if he was on the property. He says this shouldn’t have happened.

“It’s violating my constitutional rights because that’s what they doing, why do you want my cell phone, and I’m charged with trespassing, and since when does a cell phone show you got out of a vehicle, you jump a fence, and was on the property,” said Searile.

News 10 also spoke to Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory who says the department is actively investigating both sides of the incident.

“This investigation is twofold, one criminal trespass by Mr. Searile, two was Mr. Searile impeded by Derrell Thomas, and that’s what we’re trying to determine,” said Guillory.

News 10 reached out to Mamou city councilman Derrell “Sheaky” Thomas who did not get back in contact with us by newstime.

The investigation continues as authorities work to determine the validity of the trespassing claim and whether Thomas impeded Seraile’s travel.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

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