Two deputies ticketed in Causeway crackdown

Recently uncovered Causeway Police reports reveal two off duty sheriff’s office deputies, one from St. Tammany and another from Jefferson Parish, were cited for speeding in excess of 15 mph above the Causeway’s 65 mph speed limit.

The citations of St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office Reserve Deputy J.P. Jardine, clocked at 81 mph, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy D. Zanotelli, clocked at 87 mph, expose a crackdown on everything illegal by new Causeway Police Chief Nick Congemi.

“The message is very simple: We won’t tolerate speeding from anyone, nobody, whether it’s our own administration or law enforcement,” said Congemi.

Causeway Police already ticketed one of their own when former officer Terrell Brumfield was caught driving 112 mph on his way to a 3:30 a.m. roll call. He resigned the next day, Congemi said.

In the latest incidents, the first names of the lawmen were not listed in police reports, but Causeway officials confirmed their identities and positions within the two sheriff’s offices.

Jardine, 40, from Mandeville, was driving a gray 2006 Chevrolet when he was ticketed southbound about 5 p.m. Sept. 26, four miles from the southbound exit ramp, according to reports.

“He identified himself by flashing his St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office commission” and told officer Kirby Robert he was a reserve deputy in District 3, according to the report.

While providing his driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, Jardine approached Kirby’s unit and asked, “’Do you really want to do this?’ in an aggressive tone,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, Jardine picked up his cell phone and stated Kirby’s unit number to an unknown person. Then he told the person, “I’m getting a citation” and signed the ticket paperwork.

Kirby handed Jardine his copy, and the reserve deputy “grabbed the citation and his paperwork and threw it on the passenger seat,” the report revealed. Then “Jardine rolled up his windows and pulled away, still on the phone,” according to the report.

On Oct. 12, Zanotelli, a 42-year-old Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy, also from Mandeville, found the same fate.

Clocked driving a 2005 blue Ford Crown Victoria 87 mph in the 65 mph zone, Zanotelli was reported tailgating and weaving in and out of traffic by at least three commuters, including an off duty Bogalusa police officer.

At about mile marker 15 headed southbound, officer Brandon Menesses turned around in a crossover to stop Zanotelli but could not catch up with the deputy. Menesses radioed ahead, but again officers could not reach Zanotelli because of heavy traffic.

About 10 miles later, Menesses caught up with Zanotelli and turned on his lights.

Zanotelli “signaled that he would not stop,” Menesses wrote in the report. “I again told the driver to pull into the crossover,” but he passed the crossover and continued to the southbound plaza, according to the report.

Zanotelli was finally stopped exiting the Causeway.

When asked for his insurance, Zanotelli handed Menesses a green form labeled “Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Insurance.”

Zanotelli said he was “not identifying himself as a police officer,” according to the report.

Twice Zanotelli was told to have a seat in his vehicle and refused, according to the report. When a second officer arrived on the scene, Zanotelli was told to stand behind his Crown Victoria. Again he refused, according to the report.

A fourth time when he was told to step to the rear of his vehicle, Zanotelli complied, according to the report.

Zanotelli then “advised that Causeway officers speed through Jefferson Parish and Jefferson Parish deputies do not cite them,” the report revealed.

“It almost appeared we were choosing them to make examples, but that’s not the case,” Congemi said. “The bottom line is, and we all know, speeding kills people. It has to stop.”

“You can imagine that these deputies are thinking, ‘If they’re going to give me a ticket, then I’m going to give a Causeway officer a ticket,’” Congemi said. “Well, that’s what we want.”

The tickets come in the midst of an enforcement crackdown spearheaded by Congemi, who was hired two months ago to restore law and order to a scandal plagued Causeway department.

The public’s confidence in bridge patrollers was rocked April 22 when Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price busted down a tollbooth and continued to drive more than three miles south without his headlights on.

When stopped he admitted to “drinking a few beers” but was not issued a field sobriety test.

At least three officers, including then Police Chief Felix Loicano, resigned in the fallout.