Clayton speeding citations top $100K

The village partnered with Emergent Enforcement Solutions (EES) to catch speedsters in October. By Oct. 15, only two weeks into their contract, EES had written approximately 950 tickets. Majority of those tickets came from La. Hwy 425.

EES, a Louisiana-based company, takes 40 percent of the proceeds from each ticket, and Clayton is not be charged upfront for EES’s services.

Mother questions tickets validity after son’s death

One former Clayton resident, Tammy Fletcher, questioned the ticket’s validity and her son’s investigation, Bryan Fletcher, who was killed in an accident.

On May 9, 2022 Fletcher was killed when a 2022 Honda Civic traveling westbound on La. Hwy 566 struck him as he was walking on the road, according to Louisiana State Police Troop E reports. When struck, Fletcher was thrown 71.2 feet into a nearby field. 

According to Troop E reports, the Civic came to a “controlled stop” approximately 772 feet west of the area of impact. Later in the report, investigators estimated the Civic was traveling 31 to 37 miles per hour when it struck Fletcher.

“Taking in all factors into consideration, the pedestrian was walking in the westbound lane of La Hwy 566 wearing dark (camouflage) clothing with no reflectivity, just after dawn near a curve,” according to the report. “There was no street lamps in the area to provide greater illumination to the area. The Honda was traveling behind a vehicle that swerved and missed striking the pedestrian which impeded the driver of the Honda’s perception and reaction time to recognize a hazard in the roadway. The speed of the Honda does not appear to be a factor nor does impairment on behalf of its driver.”

The driver of the Civic was not ticketed, according to Tammy Fletcher.

“Do I think the young boy murdered my son?” She questioned, saying, “No, I do not, but I do think it was an avoidable accident. There were three people in the car. One of them was his uncle, I do not know who the other two were. They said they were laughing and cracking jokes, and he was showing them something on his cell phone. He said he didn’t see my son. But in his report, he seen one vehicle pass and a second vehicle pass.”

Tammy Fletcher called the accident “avoidable” and said she wanted “justice” for her son.

“Yes, I’m trying to get justice for my son, but not just for my son,” she said. “How can they rationalize every pedestrian that was killed in Clayton, and there were no tickets, no citations, nothing given. But, they want to give all these speeding tickets.”

Recently, Tammy Fletcher received a photo-enforced speeding ticket from Clayton, but she said the ticket, which featured a photo of the vehicle, was from two different cars.

The front of the vehicle, which belongs to her ex-husband, has her son’s picture and a personalized licensed plate that was not pictured. According to Tammy Fletcher, this proves her claim that it was two different vehicles.

But, according to Madison, he has shown her video tape of the traffic stop that proved it was only one vehicle.

Tammy Fletcher is far from the only person with complaints about Clayton’s speeding citations. Drivers have taken to social media airing their concerns, many centered around if the tickets would hold up in court.

In an earlier Sentinel interview, Madison contested Clayton’s system would hold up in court because it was a “manned system.”

“There is a difference between an unmanned system and a manned system,” Madison said. “We have a manned system. If you have a police officer or retired police officer running your system it will hold up in court. We also have your vehicle on video.”

But as money from tickets docking Clayton speedsters continue to come into village coffers, Tammy Fletcher continues to question authorities over her son’s death.

“I have heard four different accounts,” she said. “One, my son was walking on the side of the road toward traffic. Two, he was walking on the shoulder of the road. Three, he was walking 12 to 14 inches in the road. Four, he crossed the road in front of the car. He was a son, a father and an uncle. Now he’s gone.”