A Ruston woman was arrested after a Louisiana Tech police officer reported watching her vehicle straddle the center line on Tech Drive, according to an arrest affidavit.
Jeanette Leniere Malone, 50, of Ruston, was arrested July 31 by the Louisiana Tech University Police Department.
An officer patrolling at about 7:23 p.m. observed a vehicle turn right from West Alabama Avenue onto Tech Drive without using a turn signal. The vehicle did not enter the closest lane and instead moved immediately into the inside lane.
The officer then observed the vehicle fail to maintain its lane, crossing and straddling the double yellow line with the driver’s side partially in the oncoming lane.
The officer initiated a traffic stop, and the driver stopped in the middle of the road despite having room to pull out of the roadway. The driver did not place the vehicle in park and repeatedly let pressure off the brakes, causing the vehicle to inch forward.
The officer instructed the driver to put the vehicle in park and step out. The driver, identified as Malone, initially refused to exit the vehicle.
Malone verbally expressed agitation but eventually stepped out of the vehicle. Attempts to confirm her identity were initially met with non-compliance before she answered.
The officer was made aware that Malone’s driver’s license had been suspended in 2017, 2018 and twice in 2019. She was advised she was under arrest.
Malone refused to face the patrol unit to be placed in wrist restraints and pulled away as the officer attempted to restrain her. She continued to pull away while twisting her arm and attempting to bring it to the front of her body.
Malone was booked on charges of driving under suspension, reckless operation of a vehicle and resisting an officer. She was released on her own recognizance on the driving under suspension charge, with bond set at $1,000 each on the reckless operation and resisting charges.
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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