COTTONPORT, La. (KALB) - A Cottonport police detective is fighting his potential termination after filing a whistleblower complaint against two officers, claiming he is being targeted for his reports.
Detective Jordan Santoyo filed two whistleblower reports, one against Cottonport officer Craig Smith, who was later arrested for malfeasance, and a second against Smith’s father and former Moreauville assistant police chief Craig Lee, the subject of a KALB investigation, who was also separately employed at Cottonport, during and following KALB’s reporting.
In a phone conversation in the week after KALB investigated Lee, Cottonport’s Police Chief Taronda Jacobs told KALB’s reporters that Lee was terminated.
On May 13, the Cottonport town council, at the recommendation of Chief Jacobs, moved to fire four officers employed at the town: Jordan Santoyo, Officer Michael Hullen, Craig Smith and Craig Lee.
The town council unanimously fired both Smith and Lee, though it declined to fire Hullen, citing a lack of evidence and/or documentation from Jacobs on Hullen’s alleged poor performance.
Santoyo appeared in person to testify against his termination, arguing that the proposal for his firing was purely retaliatory in nature.
“I’m being targeted because of two people, and because I did the right thing,” Santoyo said. “If you break the law as an officer and you take an oath, then guess what? I will report you.”
Chief Jacobs, who appeared at the council meeting during her patrol shift...
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