Police arrest "infamous" purse-swinger in viral video
GONZALES - Police in Gonzales have arrested a fourth woman in connection with a brawl at a high school graduation ceremony earlier this week.
Travonshay Mills, 22, was arrested Friday evening for the brawl that erupted at East Ascension High School’s graduation ceremony Wednesday night. Gonzales Police say she's the "infamous female swinging her purse" in a now viral video of the brawl. Police say she's the cousin of Roneisha Patterson, one of three other women arrested for Wednesday night's incident.
17-year-olds Destiney Thompson and Delencia Williams, both of Prairieville, were booked on charges of simple battery, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct following their arrest on Friday.
Police said the 18-year-old Patterson, of Belle Rose, contacted detectives directly after she heard that a warrant had been issued for her arrest in connection with the fight. Patterson turned herself in at the Ascension Parish Jail and was booked on charges of simple battery, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.
Investigators say the four women were the originators of the brawl that started in the football stands at the Gonzales high school during the graduation ceremony. A nearby police officer was able to jump a barrier and start breaking up the fight as it erupted shortly before the graduates were to toss their hats into the air, according to a witness at the scene.
Detectives reviewed footage of the conflict which surfaced on social media on the morning after the fight. Officers released a statement Thursday asking people to not distribute the video further via social media as they worked to identify the culprits. Two people were arrested at the scene of the fight, but they were eventually released after they were cleared of wrongdoing.