DWI suspected in crash that hurt 28 at parade

NEW ORLEANS » Authorities on Sunday identified the man who allegedly plowed into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans while intoxicated.

The New Orleans Police Department issued a statement identifying the man as 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto. Online jail records showed Rizzuto was arrested on a number of charges and was being held at the city’s jail.

The accident came Saturday during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of Mid-City to watch the elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders.

“We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated,” Police Chief Michael Harrison had said on Saturday evening.

Twenty-one people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims taken to the trauma center in guarded condition. However, their conditions did not seem to be lifethreatening, said Dr. Jeff Elder, city emergency services director.

Seven others declined to be hospitalized, he said.