A Lafourche Parish deputy died early Sunday morning after a suspect involved in a chase rammed his stopped vehicle on a Thibodaux highway, authorities said.
At 3:55 a.m., Houma Police Department tried to pull over a motorist for a traffic violation. The motorist fled. Houma Police chased the male suspect from Houma in Terrebone Parish to Lafourche Parish. They notified the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office of the pursuit.
Police did not disclose the start point of the case, but the suspect stopped near Lafourche Crossing, police said, where officers attempted to negotiate with him. Shortly before 5 a.m., the suspect sped off and collided with a Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office vehicle stopped nearby on Louisiana Highway 1 by Kleinpeter Road in Thibodaux.
A deputy inside the vehicle and the male suspect were wounded in the crash. Both went to a hospital, where the deputy died from his injuries. The suspect, who has moderate injuries, remains in police custody at the hospital and awaits formal charges, according to Louisiana State Police public information officer Thomas Gossen.
Neither the suspect’s identity nor that of the fatally wounded deputy has been released to the public.
“We are all processing and grieving this horrific and tragic death of one or our own,” Sheriff Craig Webre stated in a press release. “We are with the family providing them with support and prayers at this unbelievably difficult time. We ask for the community’s love, prayers and support as well.”
Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations is investigating the fatal crash and criminal investigation. Nicholls State University Police Department, Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department, Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Office, Acadian Ambulance and Thibodaux Regional Health System also assisted Houma Police Department and the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.
This is an ongoing investigation. No other information was immediately available.
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