Office identifies deputy killed in wreck; other driver booked
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COVINGTON — The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office has identified a deputy killed in an off-duty motorcycle accident early Sunday morning as Kerry Snaples, 22, of Ponchatoula.
Snaples was a corrections officer at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and had been with the Sheriff’s Office since March 5, 2006, deputies said in a statement Monday.
Snaples, which is pronounced (snay-pels), was riding home from work shortly before 4:23 a.m. Sunday on his motorcycle when he hit a pickup, Covington police said.
The 1996 Chevrolet S-10 was stopped in travel lanes of U.S. 190 near Covington High School with very dim tail lights on, deputies and police said. Covington police didn’t release Snaples’ name Sunday pending notification of next of kin.
Covington police investigators now believe the pickup was stopped in the highway slightly over the center line because the truck ran out of gas, Lt. Jack West, Covington police spokesman, said Monday. The truck gas tank was empty, he said.
Investigators also found blood in the driver’s seat, potentially putting the driver behind the wheel, West said.
Police had initially reported that the truck’s tail lights were not working because they were not visible. West said investigators have since determined the lights work but are very dim.
Snaples was traveling in the westbound lane, the same direction the truck was going, West said.
Snaples was taken to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington on Sunday but was pronounced dead at the hospital, Covington police said in a statement. He is the third St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy to die in a traffic accident since June.
The driver of the truck, James E. Delancey Jr., 37, 71783 Bell Circle, Gulfport, Miss., has been booked on counts of vehicular homicide, first-offense DWI and driving with a suspended license, police have said.
He is being held in Washington Parish Prison, deputies have said.
Family members were still working on funeral arrangements Monday, said Capt. George Bonnett, St. Tammany sheriff’s spokesman.
Snaples was a corrections officer at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and had been with the Sheriff’s Office since March 5, 2006, deputies said in a statement Monday.
Snaples, which is pronounced (snay-pels), was riding home from work shortly before 4:23 a.m. Sunday on his motorcycle when he hit a pickup, Covington police said.
The 1996 Chevrolet S-10 was stopped in travel lanes of U.S. 190 near Covington High School with very dim tail lights on, deputies and police said. Covington police didn’t release Snaples’ name Sunday pending notification of next of kin.
Covington police investigators now believe the pickup was stopped in the highway slightly over the center line because the truck ran out of gas, Lt. Jack West, Covington police spokesman, said Monday. The truck gas tank was empty, he said.
Investigators also found blood in the driver’s seat, potentially putting the driver behind the wheel, West said.
Police had initially reported that the truck’s tail lights were not working because they were not visible. West said investigators have since determined the lights work but are very dim.
Snaples was traveling in the westbound lane, the same direction the truck was going, West said.
Snaples was taken to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington on Sunday but was pronounced dead at the hospital, Covington police said in a statement. He is the third St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy to die in a traffic accident since June.
The driver of the truck, James E. Delancey Jr., 37, 71783 Bell Circle, Gulfport, Miss., has been booked on counts of vehicular homicide, first-offense DWI and driving with a suspended license, police have said.
He is being held in Washington Parish Prison, deputies have said.
Family members were still working on funeral arrangements Monday, said Capt. George Bonnett, St. Tammany sheriff’s spokesman.
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