GONZALES — Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Donovan Jackson was arrested Thursday morning on a second-offense DUI. 

Sheriff Bobby Webre told WBRZ that Gonzales Police were called to the I-10 eastbound off-ramp at La. 30 around 3:30 a.m. Gonzales Police responded and found Jackson, 39, asleep behind the wheel of an unmarked sheriff's office unit assigned to him and later learned he was under the influence. 

"The Gonzales Police Department did exactly what they should've done and made an arrest," Webre said. "Now come the consequences."

Webre said that Jackson, a commissioned deputy who is not enforcement-certified, has had the unit taken away from him and placed on unpaid suspension pending an investigation into the incident. 

Jackson, who has been working with the sheriff's office since 2021, was booked on one count each of obstructing public passage and operating while intoxicated, second offense, both misdemeanors. As of 8 a.m., he remains behind bars and has not yet posted bond. 

"This behavior by one of our employees is not acceptable at all. Any law enforcement officer or public employee is accountable to the exact same law as anyone else. Whatever a civilian gets, our employees will face the same consequences," Webre said.