Coast Counties Scene of 2 of 3 Fatal Crashes
By Robin Fitzgerald, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Dec. 27–Two of three fatal traffic accidents on state roads during the holiday weekend occurred in South Mississippi.
The deadly crashes occurred in Jackson County, and near the cities of Picayune and Batesville, said the Mississippi Highway Patrol. The MHP’s fatality numbers don’t include a fatal crash on U.S. 90 in Gulfport, in which a Long Beach teenager died in a single-vehicle crash on Christmas Eve. Gulfport police are investigating that accident.
State troopers saw heavy traffic over the weekend leading up to Christmas and expect more of the same around the New Year’s holiday, said MHP Master Sgt. Joe Gazzo.
“We’re taking a deep breath between holidays and getting ready for New Year’s,” Gazzo said.
Two of the deadly crashes occurred Saturday. Briana Dekemel, 20, of Slidell, died in a head-on collision on Interstate 59 just south of Picayune. Jimmie Petty, 51, of Long Beach, died after he lost control of his vehicle, which plunged into Fort Bayou off Interstate 10 in Jackson County.
Patrick Lee, 17, of Long Beach, died Monday night when he lost control of his vehicle and hit an oak tree off U.S. 90 in Gulfport.
In comparison, only one person died in the coastal counties during the Christmas holiday period in 2006. That crash involved a single-car accident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old who lost control of his vehicle on Seaman Road in Jackson County.
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By the numbers
The Mississippi Highway Patrol has released its statistics on arrests, citations and accidents from 6 p.m. Friday through midnight Christmas Day. The numbers include a breakdown for Troop K, the six southernmost counties:
–Statewide: 3,596 hazardous citations, 1,780 nonhazardous citations, 155 DUIs, 10 drug arrests, six felony arrests, 134 seat-belt violations, 30 child restraint violations, two public drunk citations, 220 accidents and three fatalities.
–Troop K: 363 hazardous citations, 382 nonhazardous citations, 34 DUIs, one drug arrest, no felony arrests, six seat-belt violations, two child-restraint violations, 20 motorists assisted, 22 accidents and two fatalities.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
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