Ascension Parish councilman, client charged after fight

PRAIRIEVILLE, La. (WAFB) - Deputies have charged Ascension Parish Councilman Corey Orgeron and one of his law clients with simple battery after the two got into a physical altercation last week, law enforcement records show.

Both men blame the other for starting the fight that reportedly left both with injuries.

Orgeron claims the man attacked him first, stomping him in his head and repeatedly kicking him.

His client, however, says Orgeron struck first, leaving him with a bruise below his eye and a busted lip.

The incident happened Oct. 15 inside Orgeron’s law office on Post Office Road in Prairieville.

Both Orgeron, 57, and Roydall Lumar, a 28-year-old from Convent, were charged with simple battery, records show.

Both men were issued a summons and ordered to appear in court in January 2022 to answer to the charges.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the incident, did not take either man into custody.

Orgeron, who is also an attorney, says he was representing Lumar in a worker’s compensation case.

He told WAFB-TV that after Lumar’s home was damaged during Hurricane Ida, he gave the man $1,000 to get back on his feet.

However, he claims Lumar came back to him asking for more money so he suggested Lumar take out a loan. Orgeron said he agreed to co-sign on the loan for his client.

Both men agree that a verbal argument started after Lumar arrived at the law office to pick up that loan check last Friday.

”We had our differences and he told me if I didn’t trust him to get another attorney,” Lumar told WAFB-TV. “He then told me to get out and if I don’t get out he was going to use force to get me out,” Lumar added.

Lumar claims Orgeron then grabbed him by his hair. “I tripped on the sofa and he landed on top of me and started pulling my hair again and punched me in my face, busting my lip.”

Lumar provided WAFB with photographs of his alleged injuries.

Orgeron, in an interview with WAFB this afternoon, admits he hit the man twice. But, he alleged that happened only after the man attacked him first.

”He came behind the desk and started kicking me,” Orgeron said. “I fell over my desk and knocked my chair over.” Orgeron claims the man then stomped him in his head and kicked him several times, leaving him with bruising across many parts of his body.

“When he leaned down to punch me, I grabbed ahold of his dreadlocks and pulled him down,” the councilman said. “I put my knee into his chest and he kept punching me.”

Orgeron told WAFB he also has photographs of his own injuries. However, he said he was currently out of town and the photographs are on a digital camera at his home.

“He’s (Orgeron) saying that you were the aggressor and you started the fight. Is that true?” questioned WAFB’s Lester Duhe’.

Orgeron says he is the fifth attorney that Lumar has hired in the worker’s comp case. “His impression is that every lawyer is trying to screw him over,” he said.

”That man, he’s lying,” Lumar said.

Orgeron, who is currently the subject of a recall effort for his parish council seat, was also involved in an incident at a parish drainage meeting earlier this week. He claims the fight at his law office three days prior had left him rattled and led to his behavior at the drainage meeting in which he argued with people in the audience.

“When he told me to get out, he was like, if I don’t get out, he would use his hands and force me to get out. And after he said that, he ran up on me and he went to grabbing my hair. You know, trying to get shots in to my face. And I got three herniated discs in my neck, and he’s aware of that,” said Lumar.

“Attorney’s aren’t supposed to lie, they are supposed to be truthful about everything. And he just went against the law in saying that I attacked him,” said Lumar.

When fellow councilman Joel Robert told Orgeron to shut up, he stood up and ran toward Robert before police intervened.

The following day, Orgeron apologized for the draining meeting incident.

Orgeron said he has filed paperwork to remove himself as Lumar’s attorney and will no longer be representing him.

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