LIVINGSTON, La. – After Councilman Dean Coates was arrested for DWI last weekend, Livingston Parish residents responded not with outrage—but celebration.
The retired State Trooper, who once proudly jailed hundreds for the very crime he just allegedly committed, is now the accidental face of a new parish holiday: Open Container Day in Livingston Parish.
“He’s not a hypocrite—he’s a pioneer,” said one local, raising a Busch Light from the bed of his 1987 Chevy truck. “It takes guts to enforce a law for 30 years, then break it in such spectacular fashion.”
Open Container Day festivities include drive-thru daiquiris at half price, lawn chair court hearings, and a mobile breathalyzer challenge called “Blow Like Dean.”
A parade, exclusively sponsored by Coors, is also scheduled in Coates’ honor, featuring a float shaped like a giant open container, a former breathalyzer technician doing shots and yelling “It’s calibrated now!”, and a team of former DWI arrestees personally booked by Coates, riding a float called “The Forgiven Few,” tossing laminated copies of his mugshot they photoshopped into the crowd.
When asked if the holiday sends the wrong message, one organizer said, “Absolutely not. It sends the Livingston message: You’re not qualified for public service in the LP until you’ve been caught doing what you used to arrest people for.”
While critics called the event irresponsible, supporters argued it was “the most honest thing a politician in Livingston has ever inspired.”
