Statue stops truck from going over bluff

An unidentified, middle-aged woman driving a red Mazda pickup truck crashed into the Louisiana State Seal statue located on the south end of the Bluff on Wednesday about 250 feet from the Mississippi River.
Southern University Police Department received a call around 4:25 p.m. to respond to a vehicular accident; they were told that a vehicle had hit a tree.
Southern police officers, Donald Pezano, Capt. Sandra Knighton and Sgt. Kevin Johnson, were the first to arrive at the scene of the accident.
Officer Steve Rougon, who later arrived on the scene, said the woman was unable to remember any information about herself or how the accident occurred.
“She did not know the day, what year, what week. She could not remember her name; she was delirious,” said Rougon.
Rougun said a container of alcohol was located in the cup holder closest to the passenger side of the vehicle, prompting officers to place the woman under arrest for driving under the influence (DUI).
Officials said the woman was alone in the vehicle and she had no apparent physical injuries.
“She was conscious but dazed. She was able to walk,” said Errol Taylor, an investigator with the Baton Rouge Fire Department.
After she was arrested, the woman was taken to Earl K. Long Medical Center on Airline Highway.
According to an official, the woman was tested for alcohol and after “she blew a 0” on the test, which proved she had not consumed any alcohol, the DUI charge against her was dropped.
Hospital officials later discovered the woman had an epileptic seizure while driving. Rougan said the woman was taking medication for her seizures and that it appeared she had not taken the medicine when the accident occurred.
According to Rougan, the woman last remembered being on the road behind the Southern Laboratory School. A security camera showed the woman running the red light and proceeding on through the parking lot of the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Rougan said the woman then headed west on Harding Blvd. toward the Mississippi River until her vehicle jumped the curve and hit a pelican statue, leaving her truck parallel to the river facing south.
Officials from the BRFD and SUPD said hitting the statue helped stop the woman’s vehicle from moving instead of continuing into the river.
The woman, whose identity has not been released at the time of publication, is not a student at Southern. While officials did not confirm the woman’s affiliation to the school, a yellow, faculty parking permit dated 2005-2006 was hanging on the rearview mirror of the vehicle.
The woman was given a citation for failure to maintain control of the vehicle. A representative from SUPD said this citation would probably be dismissed.