A New Orleans police officer who investigated a single-car crash involving former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond in April should have issued a citation and administered a field sobriety test, a local crime watchdog said Wednesday.
"State law says the driver shall be intoxication where a citation is imminent, and when the officer has documented and suspects serious bodily injury," said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission.
An ambulance took Richmond to the hospital for evolution after the crash.
"Both of those provisions were met according to the police report," Goyeneche said. "At the very least, Mr. Richmond should have been cited for failure to maintain control of his vehicle."
Goyeneche says the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau should look into it.
"I believe that this matter is ripe for investigation and should be investigated by PIB," Goyeneche said.
Goyeneche also found New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell's comments on the case interesting.
"She replied that her officers...had followed policies and procedures and there wasn't anything to it. Well, I don't agree with that," said Goyeneche. "I believe he should have been administered a sobriety test."
Goyeneche also took issue with the mayor describing NOPD officers as "her officers." Goyeneche says those officers serve the people of New Orleans, not the mayor.
