December 12, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

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

Overturned 18-Wheeler Sends One to Hospital

An accident along rain soaked Interstate 20 involving an overturned tractor-trailer sent one person to the hospital this morning.

Firefighters and rescue workers were dispatched to the westbound lane of I-20 at Industrial Loop shortly before 10:00 a.m. following several calls by western Shreveport motorists reporting the accident. When crews arrived, they found the 18-wheeler resting over on its driver’s side. It appears that the truck has slid a short distance before coming to a rest. No other vehicles were involved.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Emmanuel Hesse, 37, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, found standing outside of the rig following the accident, was not injured. However, a passenger, Omar Turner, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, who was in the sleeper portion of the front cab at the time of the accident, was treated by department paramedics for minor injuries at the scene. Turner was transported to Willis Knighton Medical Center on Greenwood Road where he was treated and released. Hesse was ticked by Shreveport Police for Failure to Maintain Control.