The Independent released the following statement to local media at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday:
Our first concern is of course the health and well-being of Erin. She’s a member of our family and she suffered serious physical injuries yesterday. We worry that she may have long-term health repercussions. That said, we think it’s important that Lafayette understands that only one person is responsible for this incident: Dr. Glenn Stewart. He’s a physician, and he beat a 41-year-old mom and school teacher into unconsciousness and then stood over his unconscious victim and snapped photos of her with his cell phone. And when he was done, he repaired the damage to his float rather than the damage he inflicted on his victim. Our community needs to be protected from Glenn Stewart.
[Editor's Note: This story was again updated at 2:25 p.m. to reflect an interview with Jeremy Royer, who witnessed the incident from a float next to Stewart's.]
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| Mugshot courtesy Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office | |
| Glenn Stewart |
At left is Dr. Glenn Stewart's mug shot from his arrest late Tuesday night on a second-degree battery charge for punching Erin May Fitzgerald in the face. Citing eyewitnesses, KATC-TV3 reported that she was hit twice by Stewart. However, another eyewitness has just told The Ind he saw Stewart deliver a single punch to Fitzgerald's face, knocking her out. That witness, Jeremy Royer, also saw Stewart throw a jello shot at Fitzgerald when the doctor was still on the float and first realized she was trying to remove the banner. Royer confirms what other witnesses say, that Fitzgerald was leaving the area when Stewart approached her directly. In other words, she was not collateral damage in another altercation. "Erin was backing off. She was walking away," Royer says. "She turned around, and that's when he swung and hit her. He went dead after her, and she took it right in the face."
Below is a sequence of photographs taken at the scene by John St. Julien, the victim’s stepfather, who lives near the Simcoe Street area where floats gathered early Tuesday in preparation for the Independent Parade (which is not affiliated with The Independent newspaper). Mardi Gras morning this newspaper contacted St. Julien, whose hobby is photography, when photographer Robin May was unable to get to the float to capture images of Stewart’s tasteless display before the parade rolled. Fitzgerald arrived at the float separate from her stepfather. The image captured from behind Stewart as he straddled his unconscious victim to photograph her was taken by an eyewitness who turned his photographs over to The Independent. This newspaper will have more information on the brutal attack in next week’s paper and will update the story as more information becomes available.
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| Glenn Stewart dismounts the float to pursue Erin May Fitzgerald. Note the tan leather loafers. | |
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| Note the tan loafers again. The victim is unconscious with Stewart standing over her. | |
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| A shot from the rear shows Stewart using his cell phone to photograph his unconscious victim. | |
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| A shot taken simultaneously from a different angle establishes Stewart's identity as the person photographing the unconscious victim. Note the angle of the shoulder and arms in this and the previous photograph. | |
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| The victim, Erin May Fitzgerald, regained consciousness about five minutes after the attack. | |
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Photo by Robin May Stewart, above left, enjoys a pleasant ride along the Mardi Gras route following the attack. |
[Editor's Note: below is the original story, published online Wednesday at 8 a.m]:
Late Tuesday evening, investigators with the Lafayette Police Department arrested Dr. Glenn Stewart, 53, for his vicious attack on 41-year-old elementary school teacher Erin May Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, the mother of three young children, is the daughter and stepdaughter, respectively, of Independent Co-Publishers Steve May and Cherry Fisher May.
Stewart, who is 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds, was arrested on a second-degree battery charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. If convicted on the felony charge, Stewart could lose his medical license.
The Independent has obtained images showing the retired radiation oncologist hovering over an unconscious Fitzgerald and taking pictures of her. At no point did the medical doctor attempt to render aid.
Stewart was initially cited with disturbing the peace by fighting, but the charge was upgraded to a felony after police investigated and discovered that he had knocked Fitzgerald unconscious. “The doc knocked the woman out cold,” said one eyewitness, who told The Independent he gave a statement to police.
“It was real intense; he had no reason to hit her whatsoever,” another eyewitness told KATC-TV3. “Just because she tore down a banner, it doesn’t give you the right to hit a woman, slap, push. He just cold-clocked her.” Witnesses told the station Stewart punched Fitzgerald in the face not once, but twice.
Fitzgerald was taken to a local hospital and treated for her injuries.
The incident was prompted by a Mardi Gras float Stewart entered into the Independent Parade (which is not associated with The Independent newspaper) featuring Cherry Fisher May as the “driver” of the float with the warning: Caution!!! Float Driven by Cherry Fisher May. Stewart also ran Fisher May’s mug from her 2010 DUI arrest, the banner Fitzgerald had attempted to remove from the float while it was parked in the 600 block of Surrey Street before the parade got under way. Read here for more on Stewart’s relentless retaliation against this paper for its coverage of an agricultural tax loophole he took advantage of for his Parc Lafayette development at the corner of Kaliste Saloom Road and Camellia Boulevard.
Fitzgerald was issued a misdemeanor citation for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct, and her stepfather, 60-year-old John St. Julien, was cited for misdemeanor disturbing the peace by fighting.
Stewart's bond was set at $25,000, and he has been released from jail.
We will have more on this developing story in today’s INDsider.
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| Glenn Stewart |
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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