LPD asks for help on suspect in Walmart parking lot homicide
LPD asks for help on suspect in Walmart parking lot homicide
Charge of escape filed against suspect at large, as of Tuesday. Plus, WL Fire Department moves up in the rankings. And new COVID boosters arrive at county’s vaccine clinic
Thanks this morning goes to the ongoing sponsorship support from the Long Center for the Performing Arts, which presents MasterChef Junior Live at the downtown Lafayette theater 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23. For tickets and more, go to longpac.org. Check the video for a sneak preview.
Some network issues kept a few timely items back from today’s issue. I’ll do my best to catch up tomorrow. Until then …
CHARGES FILED AGAINST SUSPECT STILL AT LARGE IN SUNDAY HOMICIDE
Lafayette police on Tuesday asked for the public’s help to find Anthony J. Perez, a 28-year-old Lafayette man sought in connection with the Sunday homicide of Casey Lewis, 33, of Remington, in a Walmart parking lot on the east side of the city.
Police warned that Perez should be considered armed and dangerous.
A day earlier, police reported they believed the Sunday evening homicide was a targeted shooting, not a random attack in the parking lot. LPD put out a release Monday, saying police were looking for a suspect they described as “a Hispanic male, wearing a white hat, khaki shorts and a red/orange T-shirt.”
Earlier Tuesday, Tippecanoe County prosecutors filed charges against Perez for unrelated charges, including escape. In that case, prosecutors accuse Perez of removing a GPS tracking device, used for monitoring in a sentence connected with a 2016 battery case.
Police asked that anyone with information about the shooting or about Perez to call LPD at 765-807-1200 or the anonymous WeTip Hotline at 800-782-7463.
WEST LAFAYETTE FIRE DEPARTMENT UPS ITS RATING
West Side’s Fire Department put itself among the top 6% of fire departments nationwide this week with its latest Insurance Services Office rating, based on how well prepared it is to fight a structure fire.
Fire Chief Jeff Need said Tuesday that the West Lafayette Fire Department had moved up from an ISO 3 rating to ISO 2 on the system’s one to 10 ratings – with ISO 1 being the best. The designation kicks in Dec. 1, Need said.
“This is something we’ve been working toward for a long time,” Need said. “It really is a community effort.”
The rating evaluates the fire department – including its staff levels and equipment – the community’s water supply, dispatch abilities and fire prevention. West Lafayette joins the Lafayette Fire Department, which also has an ISO 2 rating. In Indiana, 3% of the departments have an ISO 2 or better rating, according to a city count.
How the rating could affect individual insurance policies, Need said he wasn’t sure.
“But you might ask,” Need said.
NEW COVID BOOSTERS AVAILABLE AT COUNTY VACCINE CLINIC
Updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters, endorsed last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and designed to better protect against the omicron strains of the virus, will be available starting Thursday through the Tippecanoe County Health Department’s clinic, 1950 S. 18th St. in Lafayette.
On Tuesday, the health department reported that doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines had arrived via the Indiana State Department of Health. The Pfizer booster is available to those ages 12 and above. The Moderna booster can be given to those ages 18 and above.
The health department says that both boosters require a minimum of two months since the last dose or booster was received. And the new boosters cannot be used as first or second doses in a vaccine series.
The county’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be open noon-5 p.m. Thursday, 9-4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday. Walk-ins are welcome. The county health department reported that the appointment system for the new boosters has not been set up.
This week, NPR reporter Allison Aubrey had a good piece with advice about who should consider getting this booster and who might wait. Here’s a link to it.
Thanks to The Long Center for the Performing Arts for its support and sponsorship of today’s edition of Based in Lafayette. For tickets and more details about upcoming shows, including MasterChef Junior Live on Friday, Sept. 23, at Long Center, 111 N. Sixth, go to longpac.org.
Tips or story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Also on Twitter and Instagram.