BREAUX BRIDGE, La. (KLFY) — A Breaux Bridge woman wants answers and justice after an alleged drunk driver totaled her vehicle and fled the scene, before causing multiple other vehicle crashes.
Her lawyer, who’s now filing a civil suit, says he has serious questions and concerns about how the police department investigated the crash.
Jolesa Broussard says she was driving along Rees Street in June, 2021 when a vehicle slammed into her from behind then sped off and hit more vehicles.
An officer suspected the driver was intoxicated, but the victims did not find out those results until nearly a year later.
By the time Broussard discovered the results, the driver’s charges had been dropped.
“Breaux Bridge P.D. tried to hide everything about what happened in this actual accident,” Broussard told News Ten.
Ten months after the crash, Broussard says she became worried that no charges were filed against the driver.
Without getting any answers from Breaux Bridge police, she did her own digging.
“It took almost a year to get the toxicology results. Breaux Bridge Police Department was not cooperative. I took a step further and contacted the state trooper’s office. State trooper’s office gave me the information to Acadiana Crime Lab who then sent me the toxicology report showing me that Mr. Raymond Aguillard was double the legal limit of what we consider intoxicated,” Broussard said.
Broussard then reached out to the clerk of court, who told her the police department dropped all charges in May due to a lack of evidence.
That was a month after the department received the toxicology reports showing the driver, Mr. Aguillard, was intoxicated.
Reports show his BAC was .18, which is double the the legal limit of .08. Still, he was not charged with a DUI, hit and run, or careless operation.
“The public needs to know what law enforcement discrimination is and a lack of justice because I know if I had hit five or six cars, left the scene, caused two accidents, and had double the legal limit of alcohol in my system, I would have been brought to jail,” she added.
Broussard, whose car was totaled and is still suffering from her injuries, is now filing a civil suit.
Her attorney says law enforcement didn’t conduct even the most basic investigation. He questions why police even had a blood alcohol test performed if they disregarded the results.
“I’m very suspicious about that. I don’t know what favoritism was shown to Mr. Aguillard, whether he knows someone in the police department, or are they just that incompetent? Are they just that numb and immune to someone who could commit such a violent crime?” Broussard’s attorney, Steven Bruno, told News Ten.
The lab results from the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab states, “The blood alcohol concentration exceeded the legal limit of impairment.”
Bruno and Broussard are still questioning how this is not sufficient evidence to charge the driver with a DUI, at the very least.
“It’s clear his behavior was because he was under the influence. Why they didn’t do their job, I have no idea,” Bruno added.
News Ten did reach out to the Breaux Bridge Police Chief Rollie Cantu and asked why the charges were dropped. Chief Cantu said he could not comment on this incident and said to speak with the prosecutor in this case.
We reached out to the prosecutor, Randall Racca, about the charges being dropped. Racca also told us he could not give out any information about what happened, as this is an ongoing matter.