April 5, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Rollover Accident Leaves One Injured and Neighbors Asking for Stoplight

A two-car accident this afternoon at the intersection of Gladstone Boulevard and Gilbert Drive left one person injured and neighbors of this South Highlands’ neighborhood asking for a stoplight. Driver Sarah Rozeman, 16, and her passenger, 14-year-old Julie Rew, both of Shreveport, said they were traveling west on Gladstone and then onto Gilbert Drive, heading south, when they were struck by another vehicle. The impact sent their late model Toyota Four-Runner crashing onto its driver’s side, coming to rest in the middle of the intersection. The other vehicle, an older model Cutlass Supreme, driven by Eula Thompson, 67, of Shreveport was traveling north on Gilbert. Thompson’s vehicle sustained heavy front end damage and appeared totaled. She was taken to LSU Medical Center by department paramedics for evaluation of minor injuries. Rozeman and Rew were shaken up by the accident but were not inured. Neither girl was transported to the hospital.

Rozeman said that she stopped at the intersection and looked both ways and never saw Thompson. After the accident, residence of Gladstone said that the intersection is a danger to motorists as well as people who live in the area. One unidentified man said that the intersection has a blind spot on the southeast corner, remarking that drivers on Gladstone have to literally pull out onto Gilbert to see if the intersection is clear. Several other residence spoke up about motorists excessively exceeding Gilbert’s posted speed limit of 35 miles-an-hour. It’s time for a light, they all said, seemingly in unison.

Shreveport Fire Department officials commented that the stretch of Gilbert between Kings Highway and Ockley Drive is a frequent site for accidents. Statistics were not available at this writing.