State police stopped a speeding and weaving, empty school bus Monday in Calcasieu Parish, and determined that the driver was intoxicated.
Matthew Richard
DeQUINCY, La. (AP) - State police stopped a speeding and weaving, empty school bus Monday in Calcasieu Parish, and determined that the driver was intoxicated.
Sgt. James Anderson said a trooper saw the bus operating left of Louisiana Highway 27's centerline, about six miles south of DeQuincy, shortly before 8 a.m. Monday. When he stopped it, Anderson said the trooper determined the driver, Matthew O. Richard, 26, of Sulphur, was intoxicated. A breath sample found Richard's blood-alcohol level at .211 percent - more than 2½ times the legal limit, Anderson said.
Richard, of Sulphur, was booked into the parish jail on charges of DWI with child endangerment, speeding 75 in a 55-mile per hour zone, improper lane usage, possession of an open alcoholic container in a motor vehicle and theft under $500.
No children were on the bus at the time of the traffic stop. However, Anderson said an investigation revealed that just a short time earlier 49 children under 12 years of age were on the bus. Those children were dropped off to area schools. No injuries were reported.
Further investigation revealed that an open bottle of alcohol found in Richard's possession was stolen from an area supermarket earlier in the day.