A Louisiana state trooper who allegedly let a pair of drunk drivers go after crashes on the Northshore is now facing criminal charges.
"Following a Louisiana State Police investigation into two separate citizen complaints, 56-year-old Brett Dupre was taken into custody this morning on charges of Malfeasance in Office and Filing False Public Records," Trooper William Huggins said in a news release.
The investigation looked into two separate crashes Dupre was assigned in April of 2023 in St. Tammany Parish.
"The crash reports contained false information, and two suspected impaired drivers were not taken into custody," Huggins explained.
Dupre was placed on administrative leave initially and later resigned. He had been a Trooper since 2008.
"Troop L supervisors... conducted a thorough re-examination of the incidents, amended the crash reports, and charged the impaired and at-fault drivers accordingly."
Huggins did not say the suspected motive behind Dupre hiding the truth and letting the drunk motorists off the hook. It was not clear if he knew them personally.
"After consultation with the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, LSP Investigators filed charges and booked Dupre into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on two counts of Malfeasance in Office and one count of Filing False Public Records."
The fact that he was not charged with taking bribes suggests that investigators did not find evidence that Dupre received payment to allegedly hide the truth.
