A driver accused of injuring 28 people in New Orleans after ploughing a pick-up truck into a crowd watching a Mardi Gras parade was nearly three times the legal blood alcohol limit.
Neilson Rizzuto, 25, has been charged with two felony counts in the Saturday night incident that brought chaos to one of the main events of the city's signature pre-Lent celebration.
His blood alcohol level was measured at 0.232, well above the 0.08 limit, about two hours after he was taken into custody, New Orleans police spokesman Michael Tidwell said in an email.
Rizzuto was charged with vehicular negligence, hit-and-run driving and reckless operation of a motor vehicle.
The truck driven by Rizzuto was travelling on the side of the street open to traffic along the parade route when it struck three other vehicles, including a dump truck.
New Orleans Police and State Police respond to a scene where a vehicle crashed into a crowd of people injuring at least a dozen at Carrollton and Orleans Ave. Source: The Advocate
It then veered onto the median where a crowd of people stood watching the procession, police said.
Footage from the scene showed pandemonium immediately following the incident, but the Krewe of Endymion parade, the largest and most popular of numerous Mardi Gras season parades in New Orleans, continued with little or no interruption.
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