This wasn’t a very Saintly act.
Rita LeBlanc, the one-time heir apparent for the Saints and granddaughter of late team owner Tom Benson, was arrested Monday for allegedly pushing a parking enforcement officer in Charleston, S.C., according to live5news.com.
The 48-year-old is reportedly being charged with hindering an officer/city employee, and she was released Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond.
Sgt. Chris Stinson told the outlet that LeBlanc grabbed a parking boot locking mechanism while an officer attempted to place it on a vehicle.
Officers reportedly had been summoned to the scene due to a parking enforcement officer being shoved.
A court date is scheduled for July 24, per nola.com.
LeBlanc served as the Saints’ vice chairman from 2012-14 and had been in position to be the eventual owner of the team.
Things took a turn when Benson fired her in December 2014 while also “cutting off any future contact,” Nola.com reported at the time.
LeBlanc reportedly grabbed Benson’s wife — and current Saints owner — Gayle Benson at a home game that December against the Falcons.
Two sources told nola.com that LeBlanc had been the “aggressor” and she allegedly grabbed Gayle by her shoulders and shook her repeatedly in a family suite.
Tom then announced in January 2015 that Gayle would be the sole successor.
The situation turned ugly, with a lawsuit being filed by LeBlanc, her brother, Ryan, and mother, Renee, in which they hoped to have Benson deemed mentally incompetent, per nola.com.
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The parties settled the lawsuit in 2016.
“No matter what happens in the litigation,” LeBlanc told Sports Business Daily in 2016, “I’ll still be a partial owner.”
She added: “I wouldn’t say I’m happy. I’m fulfilled. I don’t have a private life. There’s miserable things in the press and miserable things that aren’t being reported. No family should have to go through this.”
The Saints are coming off a disastrous 5-12 campaign — their worst mark since 2003 — and quarterback Derek Carr shockingly retired earlier this offseason.
