Police: Wrong-way driver causes 4-vehicle fatal crash

Jan 16, 2020 Updated 10 hrs ago

VINTON, La. (AP) — A driver going the wrong way on an interstate highway caused a four-vehicle wreck that killed an 83-year-old man, Louisiana State Police said Thursday.

The crash that killed Gabriel Prejean of Vinton on Wednesday is still being investigated and charges are pending against 76-year-old Mario De La Cruz of Anahuac, Texas, according to a news release from Trooper Derek Senegal.

A preliminary investigation found that De La Cruz's 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck first hit a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado, then ran head-on into Prejean's 2002 Chevrolet pickup, which hit a 2004 Lexus GS 300, Senegal wrote.

He said De La Cruz suffered minor injuries and the other two drivers were not hurt.

De La Cruz was heading east on westbound Interstate 10 about four miles west of Vinton when the wreck occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Vinton is in southwest Louisiana, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Texas state line and about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Anahuac.