Bizarre behavior lands Picayune man in jail

On Saturday evening (July 22), Slidell Police responded to a call about a man who was acting “bizarre” at the Kangaroo Express gas station at 61-104 Airport Road.

A female called 911 and told officers that she was standing in line, with her two children, in order to check out. While waiting in line she stated a man, 41-year-old Samuel Cole of Picayune, licked his lips at her 6-year-old son, knelt down, and ran his finger down the boy’s nose and across his lips. The woman grabbed her children, ran out of the store, and called 911. The woman did not know what Cole’s intentions were, but feared the worse.

According to witnesses, Cole allegedly continued his strange behavior as he was “making people uncomfortable by staring at them” while he stood at the front door of the gas station.

Slidell Police officers located Cole leaving the gas station in a vehicle and stopped him. Cole, who was a passenger in the vehicle, admitted to officers that he touched the boy on the nose, but denied the other allegations. Even while interacting with officers, Cole was still acting erratically and strange. The mother of the 6-year-old boy decided to pursue charges against Cole for simple battery for the unwanted touching of her son.

According to Captain Daniel Seuzeneau, a version of this story went viral on social media, but alleged that the incident was an attempted kidnapping involving multiple people and different vehi