| id | cleanReleaseDate | troopName | title |
| 8395 | 2010-02-21 | Troop L | **Update** Covington Crash leaves two in Critical Condition |
| LOUISIANA STATE POLICE COURTESY LOYALTY SERVICE Colonel Michael D. Edmonson, Superintendent TROOP L- NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release February 21st, 2010 **Update** Passenger in the Ford Mustang, Brittany Thornhill, remains in critical but stable condition at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. Driver, Jason Cortez, was transported to Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans due to his brain injury. Cortez has been charged with Reckless Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Negligent Injury. DWI charges are pending the result of the chemical test. Covington Crash leaves two in Critical Condition Covington – Today at 02:10am, Louisiana State Police Troop L investigated a one vehicle serious injury crash on LA 21 north of Covington at milepost #10.1 in St. Tammany Parish. A 2008 Ford Mustang, driven by Jason Cortez (W/M age 26) of Bush, LA, was traveling north on LA 21. As Cortez, an off duty Covington Police Officer, continued northbound on LA 21, he approached a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office checkpoint manned by three deputies searching for an escaped inmate. Cortez came to a stop prior to the checkpoint and was instructed to proceed forward by the deputies, at which time he accelerated and sped through the checkpoint proceeding northbound on LA 21 at a high rate of speed. As deputies attempted to catch up with the Mustang to conduct a traffic stop, Cortez continued northbound on LA 21 where he failed to negotiate a left curve and ran off the right side of the roadway. Upon leaving the roadway, the Mustang traveled for approximately 72 feet through a ditch before impacting a culvert and becoming airborne. The Mustang rotated counterclockwise and began to overturn when it impacted a utility pole, breaking the pole in half. The vehicle came to rest upright on its wheels in a ditch on the east side of LA 21. Both the driver and front seat passenger in the Mustang, Brittany Thornhill (W/F age 23) of Covington, LA, were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash and were ejected from the vehicle. Cortez and Thornhill suffered severe injuries as a result of the crash and were transported to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in critical condition. Alcohol use is suspected to be a factor in the crash. A urine and blood sample was taken from Cortez with results pending at Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. The investigation into the crash is ongoing with charges pending against Cortez.
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