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Press Releases>
Drunk driver crashes into sheriff’s vehicle
- Deputies, State Police arrested driver for hit and run
Webster Parish, La. --
Sep 18, 2009 --
CLARENCE WATSON
A Ruston man having a bad night found it to get much worse after he crashed into the back of a Webster Sheriff’s deputy’s patrol unit on Wednesday night. Following a report of a car maneuvering erratically along US Highway 371, deputies began their search for the vehicle. That search ended quickly after the reported vehicle crashed suddenly into the back of one of their units.
Clarence Watson, 48, was taken into custody by the Louisiana State Police following investigation of the incident. The State Police trooper was called to the scene to report and document the incident, at which time both deputies and the trooper observed Watson behaving in an impaired manner. An odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected, and the man’s broken and slurred speech was noticed by all officers on scene.
Further investigation revealed evidence indicating that Watson had recently wrecked in an entirely different location than that of the existing accident. When questioned, Watson admitted that he had taken medication along with several drinks and had crashed into something else earlier in the night; but that he was unsure as to what or where it was. Officers discovered glass and large pieces of a tree inside his car, indicating that he most likely ran into a tree prior to hitting the patrol unit.
Watson was arrested by the Louisiana State Police on charges of DWI 1st with a chemical test pending, hit and run/failure to report an accident, careless operation and driving under suspension. He was then booked into the Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center.
“Incidents like this just baffle me,” said Webster Sheriff Gary Sexton. “I can’t fathom how anyone could allow themselves to become so impaired that they gravely endanger themselves and every other driver on the road to the point of having two wrecks in one night of drunkenness, as this man did. We are just so thankful that he was placed in custody before someone was seriously injured—because he, no doubt, put hundreds of lives on the line by doing what he did.”
Webster Parish Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Gary S. Sexton
410 Main Street
P.O. Box 877
Minden, LA 71058
318-377-1515
admin@webstersheriff.org
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