Victim whose leg was amputated watches ex-city fireman sentenced for vehicular negligence

A former Baton Rouge firefighter who was reportedly drunk and speeding down a Mid-City boulevard when he caused a head-on collision that cost a woman her leg was sentenced to more than four years in prison Thursday.

Christopher Michael Reese, 37, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21 — nearly three times Louisiana’s legal drinking limit — and was traveling 94 mph moments before the Nov. 5, 2018, crash, an arrest report stated. He struck a Jeep being driven by a woman whose leg had be amputated as a result of the wreck.

Reese pleaded no contest to reckless driving, no insurance and first-degree vehicular negligence causing injury charges on Nov. 9, according to court documents. The state agreed to dismiss the driving while intoxicated indictment then.

District Judge Fred Crifasi sentenced Reese to 50 months in prison Thursday and ordered him to pay a $200 fine, court records show.

The crash happened shortly before 11 p.m. in the 4000 block of Government Street. Reese veered into oncoming lanes, according to his arrest report, and rammed into the victim’s Jeep as she turned onto the street off Richland Avenue.

The woman was rushed from the crash scene to Our Lady of the Lake’s trauma ward and had to undergo emergency surgery, where doctors took measures to save her life. She testified during Thursday’s sentencing hearing and gave a victim impact statement, court records show.

A passenger in the Jeep also had to be hospitalized. Reese was rushed to Our Lady of the Lake to be treated for injuries as well, a warrant included in court records indicates.

Reese had slurred speech and showed signs of impairment when he spoke to officers at the hospital, the arrest report stated. He told them he was coming from Varsity Bar, where he drank alcohol, and was en route to Bel Air Drive to visit a friend.

Reese was driving his personal vehicle at the time. Witnesses told investigators his vehicle was racing down Government Street at a high rate of speed with red light bars flashing on his front windshield, the warrant stated.