Sheriff suspends St. John deputy

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 27, 2009

By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office announced the suspension of one of their own deputies last week following an internal investigation into a citizen’s complaint, according to a spokesman for the department.

Pedro Luna, a crime scene investigator for the Sheriff’s Office, was suspended without pay after an internal investigation revealed he violated the Sheriff’s Office code of conduct, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office. Clement did not say how long Luna had been on suspension or how long the suspension was scheduled to last.

Clement did not reveal the specific nature of the complaint, only saying it was a violation of the code of conduct, but not a criminal violation. He said the citizen’s complaint was also not associated with any sexual misconduct on the part of Luna.

St. John Sheriff Wayne Jones said he feels this issue “is solely a personnel issue and will be handled accordingly.”