Ruston Police charged a local man with DWI and resisting arrest last week after he initially refused to be taken into custody.
Gerald Bedford, 33, of Ruston, was arrested on March 29 after an officer observed his erratic driving on Edgewood Street.
When Bedford was stopped, he immediately exited his vehicle, refusing to comply with numerous directives to stay in the vehicle. While Bedford called for someone in a nearby residence to come outside, the officer detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage and attempted to take Bedford in the custody.
Bedford refused to be handcuffed and actively resisted. The officer eventually was able to cuff him, but Bedford continued to pull away and refused to walk to a patrol car. He complied when the officer displayed a Taser.
An open container of alcoholic beverage was found in the vehicle and it was determined Bedford’s driver’s license was under suspension.
Bedford was taken to the Lincoln Parish Detention Center where he refused to submit to a breath test. He was booked for first offense DWI, resisting an officer, driving under suspension, careless operation of a vehicle, and open container.
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.
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