
Louisiana Tragedy As Bicyclist Killed in A Hit-And-Run Crash
Louisiana law enforcement officials are investigating after a vehicle hit a bicycle with an attached utility basket in a hit-and-run crash that happened Saturday evening. Officials say they eventually located the driver of the vehicle.
According to Senior Corporal Ashley Wood with the Lafayette Police Department, this crash happened at around 12:15 a.m., January 19, in the 1600 of West Pinhook Street.
Wood says traffic investigators say their preliminary investigation reveals 54-year-old Darrel P. Whittington was driving his vehicle in the inside eastbound lane of Pinhook when he hit the bicyclist. They say after the crash, Whittington fled the scene.
Wood says Whittington was later found in the 100 block of Rue Beauregard. While the bicyclist, 49-year-old Derrick Shane Miller, was taken to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead there.
Officials say Whittington was suspected of being impaired while driving, and he was arrested and subsequently booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on the following charges:
- Vehicular Homicide
- Felony Hit and Run
- Operating While Intoxicated (Second Offense)
- Self-mutilation by a Prisoner
say while their investigation continues into all of the details surrounding how the impact happened, they do know that the crash happened and is considered a hit-and-run crash. The driver of the vehicle was eventually identified.
Saturday evening, all lanes of the 1600 block of West Pinhook were closed off while the initial phases of the investigation took place. The roadway has since reopened.
There have been several fatal crashes where bicyclists have lost their lives so far this year. On January 2, a female bicyclist died after being hit on the Southeast Evangeline Thruway at Bellot. Louisiana State Police investigated a fatal crash where a vehicle struck a bicyclist on Louisiana Highway 88 near Louisiana Highway 89 on Saturday, January 11.
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