Man Arrested On Hate Crime Charges In Livingston Parish

A strange case in Livingston Parish has resulted in the arrest of 27-year-old Denham Springs man, Chad Horsley. Horsley is accused of targeting a Muslim-owned convenience store, while impersonating an East Baton Rouge Officer, and causing thousands of dollars of damage. Sherriff Jason Ard says before trashing the Best Stop, he accused the owner of engaging in illegal activities.

“He actually came into the store, flipped out a wallet, showed some kind of ID, and claimed to be a police officer. Then, said he was going to come back that night and do a search warrant.”

Ard says his office later received a call from someone who says they witnessed the crime, but “when the deputies get there they realize that the person calling in and being a witness is actually the guy who later admits to doing it.”

Horsley was charged with hate crimes. Ard says after being confronted with evidence, Horsley cooperated and admitted he picked that store for a reason.

“Through the investigation we learned that he purposely did it because of the hate he had for Muslims. He wanted to make them pay for some things that he felt happened overseas and things of that nature.”

Along with charges of hate crimes, Horsley was booked on simple criminal damage, criminal mischief, and false impersonation of a peace officer and is being held on a 56,000 dollar bond.