By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A St. John Parish sheriff’s deputy was suspended from the force for five days this week after he was arrested in another parish for driving while intoxicated, according to a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Kenneth Jones, 38, a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, was booked into the St. Martin Parish jail after he was pulled over on Interstate 10 last Friday morning, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

Clement said Jones, a resident of LaPlace, was off duty and driving his own vehicle at the time of his arrest. Jones was suspended Monday after he reported the arrest to a supervisor. It is not clear if Jones was suspended with or without pay.

Clement said Jones, who is a corrections officer in the parish, was released from St. Martin Parish jail on his own recognizance and was allowed to return to his desk duties at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility Friday after an internal investigation. He will not be allowed to drive any Sheriff’s Office vehicles.

Jones’ arrest is the second arrest of a St. John Parish deputy in the past month. On Aug. 20, St. John authorities arrested Sgt. Tommy Young Jr. of Slidell after an investigation into malfeasance in office. The investigation revealed that Young, a nine-year veteran of the force, was selling Sheriff’s Office property on the online auction site eBay.

Young, a former Secret Service member who was assigned to the Sheriff’s High Tech Crime Unit, was fired after being suspended without pay.

Young has been booked with two counts of malfeasance in office and two counts of theft. His bond was set at $200,000.