A Louisiana man wanted in his home state after failing to appear in court on animal abuse charges has been arrested in East Texas, along with 79 snakes.
Wood County deputies say 45-year-old David James Beauchemin of Oakdale, La., was arrested in Quitman on Wednesday on 22 outstanding warrants accusing him of failure to appear in court as ordered in Allen Parish, La., on animal abuse charges.
Sgt. Kilan Polk told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that deputies rescued 79 boa constrictors, pythons and anacondas -- some as long as 20 feet -- from plastic, Tupperware-type tubs that were stacked inside a 16-foot cargo trailer. Several snakes suffered from a varietey of ills, including missing eyes, being underweight and just general bad health.
The serpents have been turned over to the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth.
Beauchemin remains in Wood County Jail without bond pending extradition and any Texas charges.
With Beauchemin's past failure to appear, Lt. Jerry Blaylock with the Wood County Sheriff's Department is worried about Beauchemin jumping bail, according to a report on TylerPaper.com.
“He knows what he’s doing,” said Lt. Jerry Blaylock, of the Wood County Sheriff Department. “He gets arrested for say animal cruelty charges, bonds out and takes off. You’ve never got him in a courtroom to get him a conviction for the animal cruelty charges.”
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Quitman is about 80 miles east of Dallas.
