A Ruston man was arrested early Sunday after a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 20 west of Ruston.
Justin Blake, 24, of Ruston, was arrested at 4:35 a.m. Nov. 1 by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office on I-20 westbound near the 93 mile marker.
According to an arrest affidavit, a deputy responded to the crash and was immediately approached by a motorist who had stopped after seeing the vehicle in the road. The motorist pointed to the driver, said he was intoxicated and said a second crash had occurred because the vehicle came to rest in the left lane.
The deputy noted a strong odor of alcohol coming from Blake, strong enough to be detected even as vehicles passed by creating wind. Blake’s speech was extremely slurred, and he would begin sentences and stop before finishing them, the affidavit states.
Blake said he hydroplaned and caused the crash. The deputy wrote that the tire marks showed the vehicle veered straight off the road into the cable barriers.
Blake was advised of his rights and said he understood them, but refused to speak without a lawyer present. He also refused to take a field sobriety test. He was handcuffed and taken to Lincoln Parish Detention Center, where he refused to provide a chemical sample.
A records check showed Blake was arrested June 10, 2023, in Lincoln Parish on a first-offense operating while intoxicated charge.
Blake was booked on charges of careless operation and operating while impaired, second offense.
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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