Tashonty Toney, 32, was arrested at the scene of the crash
Police suspect a driver was impaired when he killed two people and injured seven others in New Orleans on Saturday. Most of the victims were riding bikes on a busy thoroughfare as large crowds gathered in the city for Mardi Gras.
Authorities are waiting for the results of a blood alcohol test, but they believe the suspect was impaired at the time of the crash Saturday evening, police spokesman Andy Cunningham said in statement Sunday.
Tashonty Toney, 32, was arrested at the scene of the crash. Toney faces two counts of vehicular homicide, seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation.
Cunningham said Saturday was Toney’s birthday and identified him as the son of a New Orleans police officer. He said that discovery will not change the department’s investigation which he said will be « open and transparent. »
The crash happened along a multiple-block stretch of Esplanade Avenue, a leafy street that connects the city’s biggest park with the French Quarter.
