Ascension Parish, LA : LSP sgt. arrested after DWI, hit-and-run incident on early Saturday morning, October 11, 2014

A Louisiana State Police sergeant was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated, possessing alcohol in his vehicle, and committing a hit-and-run, state police said. Sgt. Damien L. Dyson, a 34-year-old Baton Rouge resident, was driving his personal vehicle, a 2008 Cadillac STS, in Ascension Parish. Police say he caused a collision on I-10 west of Highway 22 shortly before 2:15 a.m. Dyson was driving westbound, and rear-ended a 2004 Ford Taurus driven by 21-year-old Kevin Gomez-Castellanos of Gonzales, police said. Gomez-Castellanos was driving in the left lane when Dyson's car struck his at a high rate of speed, causing Gomez-Castellanos' car to run off the roadway, hit several trees and flip upside down. Gomez-Castellano was wearing his seatbelt and was not injured in the crash. Dyson continued driving westbound, eventually exited at Louisiana Highway 44 and pulled onto the shoulder, police said. His car had heavy front-end damage. Dyson performed "poorly" on field sobriety tests, so state troopers arrested him on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and took him to the Gonzales Police Department. There, he took a chemical test and was found to have a blood alcohol content level of 0.175 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, police said. He was booked into the Ascension Parish Jail and has been placed on administrative leave from the State Police. Dyson has been on the force for six years and was assigned to the protective services section. "As law enforcement professionals, we have not only legal responsibilities but also high standards of integrity that must be upheld at all times while serving the citizens of Louisiana," State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson said in a statement. Source : Louisiana State Police sergeant arrested on DWI, hit-and-run charges