On August 30, 2017, Ramiro Bazaldua Jr. of 6060 St. Elizabeth St. Paincourtville, LA., age 29, pled guilty as charged to DWI 4th Offense. Bazaldua was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Daigle, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Jason Verdigets. This guilty plea stems after a concerned citizen contacted the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office after observing a vehicle being driven recklessly on LA 70 in Assumption Parish.
On August 6, 2016, deputies with the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an area along LA 70 in reference to a vehicle being driven recklessly. Deputies staged in the area where the vehicle was traveling towards. A short time later, a patrol deputy observed the vehicle in question and initiated a traffic stop. Upon making contact with the driver of the vehicle, Ramiro Bazaldua Jr., the deputy observed that he appeared to be impaired and detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Bazaldua’s person. Bazaldua refused to submit to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. Based on this, Bazaldua was placed under arrest and was transported to the Assumption Parish Jail where he was given an opportunity to submit to a chemical breath test which he also refused. Deputies then obtained a search warrant to retrieve a blood sample from Bazaldua. Upon obtaining the blood sample, Bazaldua was booked accordingly. Bazaldua’s blood sample was submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Deputies later received the results of the blood analysis from the crime lab and Bazaldua’s Blood Alcohol Concentration was determined to be .11g%.
Upon entering a guilty plea to the above mentioned charge, Judge Verdigets ordered that sentencing be deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation. Sentencing is tentatively set for October 25, 2017.