NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans police sergeant was arrested early Friday allegedly pointing a gun at a woman during “a road rage incident” in Treme on Thursday night.
Booking records show that 48-year-old Robert Blanchard, a 23-year NOPD veteran, faces one count of aggravated assault with a firearm.
According to court records, a woman flagged down officers near North Broad Street and Lafitte Avenue after she said she was in “a road rage incident.”
The woman said a man in a black Ford Expedition pointed a gun at her through his front windshield and a second time when the SUV drove past her. She said she followed the SUV to snap a picture of his license plate with her phone before flagging down the officers.
The NOPD officers then reportedly stopped the Expedition a few blocks away with Blanchard in the driver’s seat. He had his police department-issued handgun, which matched the description of the weapon the driver was accused of pointing at the woman, the court records show.
This is not the first alleged road rage incident involving Blanchard. According to civil service records, Blanchard was investigated in 2016 when a driver in St. Tammany Parish complained that Blanchard tailgated him and used his lights and siren after that driver passed Blanchard on Highway 190 in Lacombe.
“When the complainant attempted to slow down, the operator of the vehicle (Blanchard) allegedly ‘straddled’ two lanes of traffic before eventually passing complainant,” the civil service commission wrote.
Then-police Superintendent Michael Harrison found Blanchard in violation of one count not maintaining “professionalism,” but that was overturned on appeal because the NOPD didn’t complete its investigation in a timely manner.
Blanchard remained in custody Friday awaiting a bail hearing.
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