L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A Texas man was booked with aggravated assault with a firearm after he allegedly threatened another man with a handgun during a dispute over a fender bender in Reserve, according to a release from the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Leonard Reyna, 41, of Lake Jackson, Texas, was arrested shortly after the accident, which occurred on Terre Haute Road in Reserve, said Capt. Dane Clement, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. According to the release, Reyna and a 23-year-old Ponchatoula man who was not identified were involved in a minor accident while stopped in traffic around 5:30 p.m. Clement said both men are employees at Marathon Oil Co.’s Garyville refinery, but it was not clear whether the two were acquainted prior to the incident.

The 23-year-old man told police Reyna’s car struck his truck and damaged the left side view mirror. The man said he tried to talk to Reyna about the accident while the vehicles were stopped in traffic, but Reyna ignored him.

After several failed attempts to get Reyna’s attention, the man said Reyna pulled out a handgun and threatened him, Clement said. As Reyna drove away, the 23-year-old man called deputies while following Reyna’s vehicle.

Clement said deputies caught up to Reyna and pulled him over on West 19th Street in Reserve. Deputies recovered a handgun from Reyna’s car.

Reyna was booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace. He has since been released.