Slidell man arrested after New Orleans driver killed in crash on Highway 11 bridge

SLIDELL, La. (WVUE) - A Slidell man was arrested and booked with negligent homicide following the death of a New Orleans driver who struck his abandoned vehicle early Saturday (Sept. 23) on the Highway 11 bridge in St. Tammany Parish, the Louisiana State Police said.

Authorities said 34-year-old Antoine Lewis of New Orleans was driving northbound on the bridge in his 2018 Ram 1500 when he collided with the rear of an abandoned 2004 Ford F-350 with an attached box trailer. The Ford had been left unattended in the northbound lane for unknown reasons.

Lewis, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, sustained fatal injuries from the impact and was pronounced dead at the scene.

State Police said the driver of the Ford -- 54-year-old Hector Garcia of Slidell -- had abandoned the vehicle and trailer on the bridge and gotten a ride off the bridge in another vehicle before the collision occurred.

Garcia was booked early Sunday with negligent homicide, aggravated obstruction of a highway, operating a vehicle without required equipment or in an unsafe condition and operating a vehicle with a suspended license.

Negligent homicide is punishable by up to five years in state prison upon conviction in Louisiana.

Louisiana State Police Troop L is leading the ongoing investigation into the crash.

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