Caught on Camera: Dramatic Moments Before Wrong-Way Wreck on I-10
Luckily no major injuries to report in an afternoon crash along I-10 east in Acadia Parish, which involved a wrong-way driver and several tractor-trailers.
The dramatic moments leading up to the crash were caught on camera by a passing motorist. Danny Leblanc was headed to Houston from New Orleans. It was while he was passing through Lafayette, when he started to notice a truck in front of him swerve from one side of the road to the other. Leblanc says he pulled out his phone and called police, then hit record on his camera-phone.
"For ten miles or so, I followed him as he went on and off the median," said Leblanc. In his video, the pickup truck can be seen crossing the median, going from I-10 eastbound onto I-10 westbound the wrong way.
"Oh dear God almighty," cried Leblanc, as his camera catches the pickup truck narrowly miss oncoming cars at full-speed. Then came the impact. "Oh dear God he hit him, he blew up."
The impact was not caught on camera, but after pulling over, Leblanc runs across I-10. His camera still rolling, the footage shows the smoky aftermath of the crash, as survivors get out of their cars and trucks.
Among the survivors was a man with a gash on his forehead, who Leblanc identified as the driver of the out-of-control pickup truck.
"He was already out of the vehicle and he was walking in circles, he was trying to communicate, but no one could understand what he was saying but he had the look in the eyes of someone who was terribly intoxicated," said Leblanc. "Soon as a cop came on scene and tried to get him to sit down, he threw a punch at the cop, and we had to step in and help the cop get him to the ground, he got [belligerent] and had to be tasered and tackled to the ground, it was quite a scene."
As of Tuesday night, the suspect has not been identified by police, he was being treated in the hospital for minor injuries. Louisiana State Police have already charged him with reckless operation and DWI. More charges are expected by the Acadia Parish Sheriff's Department.
Jim Hummel
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