Deputy involved in deadly crash fired; sheriff's office says he never mentioned suspended license

UPDATE: The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office says Albert Casco has been terminated for failing to disclose he had a suspended driver's license before the deadly crash Friday.

This is a developing story.

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PORT ALLEN - West Baton Rouge Deputy Alberto Casco had an active arrest warrant at the time he killed a pedestrian Friday morning, the WBRZ Investigative Unit uncovered. Despite that arrest warrant, he did not go to jail.



Monday, Louisiana State Police told WBRZ not all arrest warrants show up in a federal criminal database. Troopers investigating the crash didn't see he had a bench warrant on Friday. However, they did find that he was driving on a suspended license at the time of the crash. That nugget of information was not released until WBRZ began asking questions after being tipped off by sources about the discrepancies.



Casco was driving on LA 1 in a work release van Friday when he crashed into Clyde Robertson. Robertson died at the scene.

When troopers arrived at his house, his loved ones say they were quick to blame him for walking in the street.



"In this case, they tried to make it seem like Clyde was totally wrong. And then we find out because of WBRZ 2, the officer was just as wrong because he should not have even been driving," Kiease Becnel said. "Had he not been driving, Clyde would have still been alive."



The WBRZ Investigative Unit found out the following information about what led to Casco's driver's license being suspended and a bench warrant issued.



On September 19, he was pulled over for speeding, driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone. He paid that ticket on Oct. 17, 2018. Seven days later, he was issued another ticket. This time it was on LSU's campus for driving 46 mph in a 25 mph zone. He was cited for speeding and 'multiple road lighting equipment.' Typically, that means the driver has additional lights on their vehicle that should not be there. It's unclear if that was the case for Casco.



Casco was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 13, 2018 but didn't appear. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest, and three months later his license was suspended for that ticket. When Casco's driving history was run, it also indicated he had no insurance.



Casco was hired by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office on Feb. 1, 2019. That means when he was hired he had an active arrest warrant.



Major Zack Simmers said just like State Police, their background check did not catch the active arrest warrant. Monday, Simmers said an internal affairs investigation was underway to determine how this happened and what discipline Casco will face.



"At the end of the day, I do believe policies were violated because we did not know the driver's license was suspended," Simmers said.



According to sources, the Office of Motor Vehicles notified Casco his license was suspended. However, the person or agency that notified Casco to rectify the bench warrant hours after the deadly crash remains a mystery.