One person has been arrested in connection with a vehicle crash that killed two people in Acadia Parish last month.
Shortly after 6:30 a.m. on May 16, 21-year-old Johnathan Patin, of Morse, was driving south on LA 92, south of U.S. 90, with six other passengers when his truck drove off the road and struck a culvert, according to state police.
Thirty-two-year-old Kriss Stoute, of Morse, one of the passengers, was thrown from the truck during the crash. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Acadia Parish Coroner’s Office, troopers say.
Cade Sonnier, 21, of Gueydan, another passenger, was transported to a hospital where he died last week.
Patin and the remaining passengers were also transported to various local hospitals for minor to moderate injuries.
Troopers say Patin was not wearing a seatbelt and that only one passenger was properly restrained during the crash.
During the initial investigation, state police believed Patin was impaired at the time of the crash and that he may have been speeding. A toxicology sample was obtained.
Yesterday, Patin was arrested on two counts of vehicular negligent homicide, two counts of first-degree negligent injuring, reckless operation, no seatbelt, and no insurance. He was booked into the Acadia Parish Jail.
Due to the fact there were several witnesses, according to a Troop I spokesman, the State Police Bureau of Investigations was contacted to assist in the investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing.
