Woman and Children Rescued as New Iberia Police, Lafayette Police and Iberia Parish SWAT Teams Take Down Lafourche Parish Man

IBERIA PARISH, La. (KPEL News) - A Lafourche Parish man now sits in the Iberia Parish Jail after authorities say he held a female and their two young children hostage, forcing New Iberia Police and Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office and Lafayette Police SWAT teams into action.

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Around 9:00 p.m. Thursday, deputies with the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office responded to a call on Leona Street in Lydia that a man was threatening a neighbor with a firearm. After several attempts to speak with the suspect, deputies later found out there was a warrant for him out of Lafourche Parish for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.

Then, another call came in - from the suspect's mother. She let authorities know that he was allegedly holding a female and their two children - aged 4 and 6-years-old - as hostages. That's when the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office SWAT team came out, teaming up with New Iberia Police and Lafayette Police SWAT teams to take the suspect down.

Once apprehended, 25-year-old Alex Anthony Picou was taken into custody, taken to an area hospital for self-inflicted injuries, and booked into the Iberia Parish Jail on the following charges:

• LA RS 14:37.4 Aggravated Assault with a fireman
• LA RS 14:35.3A Child Endangerment/ Domestic Abuse Battery Simple Assault

Additional charges are pending in this ongoing investigation.