Maybe it was the timing-the evening of one of the last shopping days before Christmas. And maybe it was the location-Louisiana Highway 21 at City Limits Road. But for whatever reason, the DWI checkpoint that funneled drivers coming into, leaving or passing through Bogalusa Tuesday night was productive.

During an approximately two-hour period that started at around 8 p.m., a total of 441 cars passed through the checkpoint, five field sobriety tests were conducted, and two DWI arrests were made.

Russell Warren of Columbia, Miss. was charged with driving while intoxicated, first offense. And Gregory A. Schaffer of Bogalusa, was charged with driving while intoxicated, first offense, and with having an expired driver’s license.

Advertisement

The checkpoint was a team effort of three law enforcement agencies, including 14 deputies from the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, five officers from the Bogalusa Police Department and six Louisiana State Troopers from Troop L.

“We also conducted saturation patrols before the checkpoint, and we’ll do more when this is over,” said WPSO Deputy Chief Shannon Lyons as he approached the Command Center trailer where those who failed field sobriety tests were waiting to be tested on the Intoxilizer 5000.

At that time, about 8:30 p.m., a handful of people were inside awaiting their turns, and Trooper Kevin Allen was operating the device, which the sheriff’s office had borrowed from the state police. BPD Detective Joe Culpepper stood outside with another suspect.

Grants from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission paid the overtime that put the officers from all agencies on the street.

“This is going to continue through September, with special emphasis during the holidays,” said Lyons.

The joint operation was initiated by the sheriff’s office, he said.

“Sheriff (Bobby) Crowe is real serious about drunk driving,” said Lyons. “He said this is going to continue, with and without the grant, to make the parish roads safer.”

Crowe echoed the sentiments Wednesday morning.

“We will continue to aggressively look for impaired drivers and use the necessary steps to take them off the road,” he said. “I encourage the citizens of this parish to call our agency if they see impaired driver’s on our roadways or about any traffic hazards they come across, especially during the holiday season.”