St. Charles sheriff baffled that suspect is not in jail at time of arrest

By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

DES ALLEMANDS – A Des Allemands man with a lengthy criminal history has been arrested by the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office for at least his eighth D.W.I. charge, the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office reports.

Roger Giddens, 45, who was reportedly staying at a house at 243 Tregle Lane in Des Allemands, hails from Conroe, Texas, and just recently moved to the area. His history has not been completely tracked, but according to Sheriff Greg Champagne, Gidden’s available track record of D.W.I.’s extends back to 1989 with a minimum of eight incidents.

&#8220This guy has one of the worst drunk driving records I’ve ever seen in all my years as a prosecutor and a sheriff,” Champagne said. &#8220I’m surprised he was out of prison.”

In the Des Allemands incident, he was also charged with driving without a license, resisting an officer and misrepresentation during booking.

He’s been charged with felony D.W.I. on four separate occasions, in March 1994, April 2001, Nov. 2001 and April 2002. The first three charges of D.W.I. are misdemeanors and details were unavailable for those incidents, according to the District Clerk’s Office in Montgomery County, Texas.

For his 1994 charge of D.W.I. he was put on probation for five years, which was revoked when he failed to conduct himself in a satisfactory manner.

He was later put on probation for 10 years after his Nov. 2001 charge, which he broke in Sept of 2005, resulting in the revocation of his license without bond.

Details were unavailable regarding whether he has ever spent substantial time in prison for any of the charges, but the April 2001, Nov. 2001 and April 2002 cases remain open with possible jail time to entail. Champagne said he was wanted in Conroe, Texas for parole violation, but the Montgomery County District Clerk’s Office could not confirm if the warrant was related to the former incidents.

Police reportedly saw him swerving across U.S. 90 at 6:30 a.m., and when officers addressed him he responded to their questions with practically incoherent slurred speech, then failed to perform their field sobriety tests, according to the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

He allegedly lied to officers about his name and birthday after they asked for his information, then tried to stumble away from the area but was quickly tracked down and placed under arrest.

As officers drove him to the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center, he pleaded with the police to take him home and offered $1000 if they would just forget the entire event, but they refused.

He is currently being held at the Correctional Center with a $131,600 bond set by Judge Chaisson.