The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Houma man was killed in a crash on Interstate 10 in St. Charles Parish early Sunday, and a Louisiana State Police trooper responding to the crash was injured, officials said.
Around 1 a.m. Sunday, a 2010 Toyota Scion, driven by Louis Hernandez of Meridian, Mississippi, was traveling westbound on I-10 when Hernandez stopped on the right shoulder of the Bonnet Carre Spillway bridge to urinate, State Police said in a news release. While Hernandez was walking near the shoulder of the road, a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Joel Ybarra, 42, of Little Rock, Arkansas, approached and veered right to avoid hitting Hernandez, striking the rear of the Toyota.
The passenger in the Toyota, David Vasquez-Dueno, 21, of Houma, suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ybarra suffered critical injuries and was transported to University Medical Center.
State Police believe Ybarra was impaired at the time of the crash, according to the news release. He was arrested for vehicular homicide and careless operation.
A State Police trooper responded to the crash scene around 1:45 a.m. in a fully marked State Police vehicle with the emergency lights activated. As the trooper slowed down to pull ahead of other on-scene emergency vehicles, he was struck from behind by a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado driven by James Osborne IV, 34, of Baton Rouge.
The trooper, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered minor injuries. He was transported to St. Charles Hospital.
State Police said Osborne was impaired and over the legal blood alcohol limit. He was arrested for DWI, reckless operation and vehicular negligent injuring.
Both crashes remain under investigation.
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