Investigators accused of leaking information in the mayor’s stalker case are focusing on the intent

New evidence emerges in the investigation of four New Orleans Police Department officers accused of releasing personal information of a woman who accused Mayor Latoya Cantrell of stalking. Retired NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie has been named as one of the four officers. He is the mayor’s former security guard and is also accused of having a relationship with the mayor. Anne Breaud was previously accused of stalking Cantrell in May. Although the case was dismissed, her attorney, Justin Schmidt, issued subpoenas for all NOPD public records, policies and communications after Breaud’s personal information was leaked, including her Social Security number, date of birth, an old photograph and other court documents. “Somehow, some way or another, this information got to the mayor that is not readily available to ordinary citizens,” Schmidt said. “Both the mayor’s May 9 police report and the petition noted that Ms. Breaud had a previous assault charge based on a criminal record found in Assumption Parish.” Schmidt said Breaud was the victim in the case and the record was expunged and should never have been viewed by Mayor Cantrell, who filed her restraining order as a civilian. The four officers accused of accessing Breaud’s personal information are Jeffrey Vappie, Leslie Guzman, Ryan St. Martin and Victor Grant. Eric Hessler of the Police Association of New Orleans says that when the PIB investigates, you can be named in a complaint whether or not you can be linked to it. Hessler says at this point, there is no reason to suspect the officers did anything wrongful. He says as part of the investigation, they will have to prove that the officers did not act in good faith. “These databases are there for law enforcement to access and get information for the investigation as long as the officer is doing it in good faith. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Hessler said. “If the database is later used or someone gets their hands on it and later uses it for an inappropriate purpose, that’s when the investigation begins.” Hessler shared that St. Martin was asked to look up Breaud without knowing anything about the stalking incident. He also claims that St. Martin accessed databases without having information. The investigation must be completed within 150 days of starting.