Impaired drivers kept local law enforcement busy on New Year’s Eve and into 2024.
Late on New Year’s Eve, a Ruston police officer stopped a vehicle traveling the wrong way on North Trenton Street. After contacting the driver, Johnny Modest, 71, of Ruston, the officer saw indications of intoxication. Field sobriety tests were administered, and Modest was was arrested. A breath test at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center indicated Modest’s blood alcohol content was .172g%, more than twice Louisiana’s legal limit. Modest was booked for first offense DWI and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
About 2:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day, a Ruston patrol supervisor saw a vehicle traveling northbound on the southbound side of Tarbutton Road near Interstate 20. The vehicle was stopped and the driver, Jared Melseth, 22, of Ruston, appeared to be impaired. After administering field sobriety test, the officer arrested Melseth. A breath test at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center showed. Melseth’s blood alcohol content to be .168g%. Melseth was booked for first offense DWI and driving left of center. Bail was placed at $1,500.
Elbert E. Kirkendoff, 61, of Ruston was arrested about 9:00 p.m. on the evening of New Year’s Day after he allegedly fled a Grambling Police officer who tried to stop him. Kirkendoff reportedly stopped when he reached a residence on Garr Road north of Grambling. The officer found him to be heavily intoxicated. A state trooper assisting the officer administered field sobriety tests and as a result, arrested Kirkendoff. At the detention center, Kirkendoff became uncooperative and refused to take a breath test. He was booked for first offense DWI, improper lane usage, expired license plate, and open container. Bail was set at $1,500.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
