Deputy Constable resigns after ignoring French Quarter rape witness, officials say

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) — An assistant constable accused of failing to respond to an alleged rape in the French Quarter has resigned just a week after an internal investigation was launched.

A 911 recording obtained by FOX 8 details the times a woman reported a rape on the corner of Toulouse and Royal streets just after 11 p.m. on July 26. She is heard telling a dispatcher that she saw what she believed to be an NOPD officer a block away, unresponsive to the scene of a man having sex with an unconscious woman. She breaks down when she realizes the alleged rapist has fled.

“He’s gone, and that cop is still a block away, and that girl just got raped around the corner, literally raped around the corner,” the caller said.

Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said the man she approached was not an NOPD officer, but a second city uniformed deputy constable who worked nearby.

“Unfortunately some of our uniforms are similar in nature,” Ferguson said.

This deputy constable was suspended and Constable Edwin Shorty says the investigation revealed he never got out of his vehicle before the witness left the area, to walk in the opposite direction of the crime heinous that she reported frantically.

“More than several minutes elapsed between the civilian witness’s initial complaint to the deputy and the time the deputy was able to confirm that the NOPD had arrived on the scene,” Shorty said in a statement. “Furthermore, the deputy never attempted to exit his vehicle to assist the witness and only exited his vehicle after the witness left his location and video evidence confirms that he did indeed walk. in the opposite direction of the alleged incident.”

“At no time did the deputy attempt to consult with the responding law enforcement agency, NOPD, or notify his supervisors,” Shorty continued. “The Constable’s office was not made aware of this incident until August 10. The Reserve Deputy’s actions were inconsistent with his official statement, training, and general law enforcement code of ethics.”

The deputy’s resignation letter was accepted by Shorty on Thursday, August 18. He has not been identified.

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