Helicopter crashes into Gulf of Mexico
Helicopter crashes into Gulf of Mexico
NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a helicopter that takes people to oil rigs has crashed in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Coast Guard said in a news release they were unable to see any sign of the helicopter or its pilot after the Sunday afternoon crash about 35 miles southwest of Grand Isle.
The agency said the helicopter was owned by PHI Inc.
Spokesman for PHI, Dave Stepanek, only would confirm that one of the company’s helicopters was in the water and said more information would be released Tuesday.
Driver spots wreck
in woods off I-55
PONCHATOULA — A driver on Interstate 55 saw wreckage at the tree line and called Louisiana State Police, who found the body of a Metairie man.
Trooper Nick Manale said Darren Elwin, 31, apparently died 12 to 15 hours before his body was found Sunday afternoon about 115 yards from the highway south of Ponchatoula.
Manale said a preliminary investigation indicates that Elwin’s 2008 Lexus 350 ran off the right side of the road, rolled over several times and wound up deep in the tree line.
Manale said that the car apparently was going fast, and Elwin was not wearing a seat belt.
Man dies after falling into canal
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police say a 29-year-old man died after falling into a canal near Irish Bayou in eastern New Orleans.
Officer Garry Flot, a police spokesman, said the body of Harold Johnson, of New Orleans, was found Sunday afternoon, near the spot where he fell in earlier that day.
Flot says said the death will be listed as unclassified until an autopsy.
Man charged with illegal hunting
OBERLIN — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says an 18-year-old Basile man who is awaiting trial for allegedly possessing an alligator out of season has been arrested a second time on the same charge.
Spokesman Adam Einck said an agent allegedly saw Michael R. Gaspard load a 5-foot alligator caught on the Calcasieu River into the extended cab of a truck on May 21, and found it behind the front seat with the hook and line still in its mouth.
Einck said Gaspard and a 15-year-old allegedly admitted catching it.
He said that when Senior Agent Wendel Vaughn checked Gaspard’s record, he found that he was scheduled for trial in July for a citation in January.
Louisiana has a 30-day gator season in the fall.
Trial delayed
until September
HOUMA — The trial of a Galliano man accused of stabbing a former roommate inside a Houma nightclub in 2009 will be delayed until September.
Jorell Young, 26, was arrested in 2010 in the death of 39-year-old Robert LeCompte.
Prosecutors said LeCompte was found with multiple stab wounds inside the Drama Club. Young was indicted on a first-degree murder charge by a Terrebonne grand jury in April 2010.
The trial was set to begin shortly before state District Judge Johnny Walker. Assistant District Attorney Jason Dagate said attorneys are awaiting handwriting analysis that is being done by the FBI.
Compiled from
The Associated Press