Bethany Arceneaux was kidnapped in Duson, LA from the parking lot of a child-care center. Her captor was the father of her son, 29-year-old Scott Thomas. The family reported the case to the police, but while waiting for law enforcement officers to find her the family decided to stop sitting around and take matters into their own hands.
When they caught wind of Thomas’ possible location (an abandoned house nearby), the family mobilized themselves quickly and about 6 men got themselves together and stormed the house. What followed was a violent scuffle that ended up in the death of her captors and the poor woman’s release.
While many people might consider the act by the family perhaps too daring this time, it turned out that their quick action might have saved Arceneaux from fatal danger from her aggressor.
It took some violent actions to get her free as Thomas allegedly opened fire on the men that had stormed the abandoned house where he kept her. A gun battle had ensued and Thomas was fatally shot, and he lost his life soon afterwards.
Fortunately for the 29-year-old Arceneaux, her family members were able to get to her before too much damage was done.
“She’s shaken up, she’s sliced up, but she’s alright,” said Ryan Arceneaux, Bethany Arceneaux’s brother, who was involved in the confrontation along with another brother, Kaylyn Alfred.
“We found her. We went and got her in that house. We kicked doors down. It was like a movie unfolding.” He stated.
Thomas’s action wasn’t too big of a surprise to those who knew him. Arceneaux has had to get a restraining order against Thomas earlier in the year on June 17. He had violated the order and was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and aggravated flight from an officer.
Even after that, he continued to harass the woman. “He keeps threatening to kill us,” Arceneaux had written in her complaint to police. “He put a knife to my neck countless times.”
The action of the family has been met with mixed feelings by different individuals in the community.
“I can just imagine how chaotic that confrontation was,” police spokesperson Capt. Kip Judice told KATC. “The person who acted in defense of Ms. Arceneaux is a relative, a close relative to her. So I can imagine his emotions were probably high, and everyone’s levels were very escalated.”
While the events plainly point to the fact that the family had acted in order to protect the woman, there is still a need to further investigate the matter in order to make sure no foul play was involved. For now, it remains unclear whether any of the Arceneaux family will face charges.
But the woman has her family to thank all the same for being quick to respond and be brave enough to confront her attacker. Who knows how things would have unfolded if they didn’t.
