On Wednesday, July 9, 2014, at 5:51 am, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 100 block of John Pierre Street in Edgard for the report of a disturbance. The complainant told 911 operators that Kirk Bovie, 49, of John Pierre Street pushed down her niece, punched the complainant in the face, and broke a window on her trailer. The complainant also told operators that Bovie had been smoking illegal narcotics. When deputies arrived on the scene, Bovie fled to a wooded area.
Approximately 18 minutes later, deputies located Bovie in a sugarcane field holding what appeared to be a handgun. With weapons drawn, deputies ordered Bovie to put down the weapon. He refused to put down the weapon and charged a deputy. Bovie grabbed the deputy’s weapon, and the deputy fired two shots striking Bovie once in the upper leg. When deputies recovered Bovie’s handgun, the weapon was identified as an air soft pistol with the orange tip removed. An air soft pistol has an orange tip so it is not mistaken as an actual firearm. Bovie was alert and conscious on the scene; he was transported to University Hospital for treatment. No one else was injured.
As standard procedure, the deputy involved in the shooting, Deputy Arthur Ponder, was given a leave of absence until the conclusion of the investigation. Ponder has over three years of service with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, and he has been assigned to the Criminal Patrol Division since May 2013.
Upon his medical release, Kirk Bovie will be arrested, and pending the outcome of the investigation, he will be booked accordingly. Bovie was arrested 7 times in St. John the Baptist Parish since July 1991 and booked with charges that included disturbing the peace and battery.