DWI charges upgraded

Man involved in crash that killed three had long history of citations

A man involved in a January crash that killed three people now faces upgraded charges in a previous DWI case, after prosecutors admitted that he was charged with first offense DWI three times because of legal oversights.

The criminal background of Todd C. Vincent, 39, of Erath, came to light in January after the St. Mary Parish wreck that killed 40-year-old Priscilla Williams, her 15-year-old daughter Kadijah Williams and 41-year-old brother Leroy Williams, all of Franklin.

The crash happened on La. 318 after Vincent allegedly drove his 2004 Ford truck into the direct path of Priscilla Williams' vehicle and hit it head on.

Vincent, who has an extensive traffic violation history, faces charges of driving left of center and operating a vehicle with an invalid driver's license in the crash, but could face more - including vehicular homicide charges - if drugs or alcohol are shown to be involved. State police are still waiting for test results in the case.

At the time of the January crash, Vincent's license was suspended for 180 days - until May 14 - for another head-on collision on Nov. 15, after which he refused to take a drug test.

Vincent was arrested in November on one count of DWI first offense, driving left of center and no driver's license in possession. Even though the Nov. 15 incident was the third time Vincent had faced a DWI charge, prosecutors district attorneys handling the case only filed charges against him for a first offense.

Before this incident, Vincent was charged with DWI first offense and careless operation for a July 9 incident and had a DWI dating back to 2006, as well.

While the Nov. 15 case has worked its way through the courts with Vincent pleading no contest and being sentenced to six months probation, the July 9 charges have not been disposed, and an arraignment date is set for March 24.

In January, District Attorney Mike Harson said Vincent's Nov. 15 first offense DWI charge would be upgraded, but since Vincent had already pleaded, prosecutors amended the July 2008 charge instead.

Last month, Assistant District Attorney Aimee Hebert, who has handled all of Vincent's traffic violations, filed an amendment to the bill of information regarding the July 9 incident and upgraded the DWI first offense charge to DWI second offense.

"On or about the 9th day of July 2008, Todd C. Vincent did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle upon La. Highway 685, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, while intoxicated; and on or about the 15th day of November, 2008, did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated and was convicted of said charge on the 9th day of December, 2008," the amended bill of information states.

On Nov. 15, a Vermilion Parish sheriff's deputy wrote on a DWI report that after reading Vincent his Miranda rights, Vincent "then asked if he was going to get another DWI."

The same report said he admitted to taking Oxycontin tablets and smoking marijuana hours before that crash.

Harson, who acknowledges that he is acquaintances with Vincent's father, said a mistake led to the dismissal of the first of three DWI charges Vincent received.

Vincent got his first DWI arrest in June 2006, but prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges on July 7, 2007.

Somewhere along the line, Harson said the instructions were misconstrued causing the charges to be dismissed.

"I'm going to acknowledge the matter was dismissed, and it was done in error," Harson said.

By the time Vincent received a second DWI charge on July 9, 2008, Harson said the two-year deadline to file the initial charge again had passed, which caused the July 2008 charge to be classified as a first offense.

A second DWI offense carries a minimum penalty of 30 days to six months in jail, according to state law.

In more legal troubles for Vincent, there was a bench warrant issued for him for failure to appear at a Feb. 19 status conference to monitor his progress on his recent court sentence for the Nov. 15 incident.

It is unknown if Vincent has resolved the bench warrant.

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