Sheriff: Accident mishandled

• By GREG GARLAND
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: May 1, 2009 - Page: 1B

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BRUSLY — A crash on Choctaw Road this week in which a West Baton Rouge Parish reserve officer struck two trees and landed upside down in a front yard was mishandled by a young sheriff’s deputy who failed to have the driver tested for possible alcohol use, West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Mike Cazes said.

“It was a young deputy that made an error,” Cazes said, explaining why the vehicle’s driver, Joseph W. Anderson, wasn’t cited for any violations or tested for alcohol even though residents who rushed to the crash scene said full and empty beer bottles tumbled from his truck.

Cazes confirmed Anderson holds a commission from the Sheriff’s Office to work as a uniformed reserve deputy, meaning he volunteers to go out on patrols with other deputies when needed. Anderson’s brother is the police chief in Addis.

The single-vehicle crash involving Anderson, who formerly worked for the Brusly Police Department and Port Allen City Marshal’s Office, occurred shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, police reports show.  See Report.

Angela Covington said she was in her front yard on Choctaw Road with her toddler when Anderson’s 1996 Toyota 4-Runner came swerving down the two-lane road. It plowed into two trees in a neighbor’s yard across the street, flipping at least three times before coming to rest on its roof, she said.

“My son was terrified,” Covington said. “It scared the daylights out of him. I thought whoever was driving that thing had to be dead.”

However, Anderson, 38, suffered only minor injuries. He was treated and released from the hospital the same evening, police said.

Richard Hebert Jr., one of the first neighbors to arrive after the crash, said there were “multiple beer bottles” — some full and some empty — inside and around Anderson’s truck. Some were “cold to the touch,” he said.

“His arm was underneath the vehicle,” Hebert said. “We had to move beer bottles out of the way to lift the vehicle.”

Hebert’s roommate, Ashley Garrard, who arrived at the scene shortly after Hebert, also said he saw a beer bottle in the truck by Anderson’s hand. He said he didn’t notice if there were other bottles lying around.

Cazes said Choctaw Road is a state road and the accident ordinarily would have been handled by State Police. But no trooper was available, so a sheriff’s deputy working the area, Ryan Polansky, was dispatched to handle it, Cazes said.

Polansky’s report makes no mention of any beer bottles at the scene. He checked the box for “unknown” on whether alcohol or drug involvement was suspected as a factor in the crash.

In an interview, Polansky said he saw only one beer bottle, inside the mangled truck, and if there were more, they must have been removed before he got there.