BRPD officer arrested for DWI was already on administrative leave for prior incident

WEST FELICIANA — Zaria Brown, a Baton Rouge Police officer, was among the two adults involved in a crash in West Feliciana Parish Sunday night.

Baton Rouge Police confirm to UWK that Zaria Brown, 23, is an officer with city police. She started with BRPD in Dec. 2022.

On July 14, she was arrested and booked into the West Feliciana Parish jail for driving while intoxicated with child endangerment and vehicular negligent injuring.

It was around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night when state troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash on Hwy. 61, just north of Hwy. 10 in West Feliciana Parish. Troopers say Walter Lopez, 29, of Baton Rouge was driving south on Hwy. 61 and Brown was going to opposite direction.

Troopers say Lopez crossed over the median and into Brown’s path. That’s when Brown hit Lopez head-on, according to troopers.

Both people were transported to a hospital in serious condition. Brown also had a three-year-old child, who was buckled, but injured in the crash.

Baton Rouge Police say Brown is already on administrative leave from BRPD since May 2024 for an unrelated incident, but would not specify the reason.

“We cannot comment on any ongoing pending investigation,” said BRPD.

Procedurally, anytime a police officer is arrested, they are placed on administrative leave pending internal and criminal investigations. In this case however, Brown is already on leave from a previous incident that happened in May 2024.

UWK found that Zaria Brown was ticketed for driving 90 mph on I-10 in Baton Rouge in 2021, nearly 30 miles over the speed limit.

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