Suspected Impairment, Speed, and Lack of Seat Belt Usage Factors in Fatal Beauregard Parish Crash
DeQuincy – On August 14, 2022, shortly before 4:15 a.m., Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop D was notified of a single-vehicle fatal crash at the intersection of Camp Edgewood Road and Pilgrim Rest Road in Beauregard Parish. The crash claimed the life of 19-year-old Kyler Louis Lacy of Sulphur.
The preliminary investigation revealed, a 2000 Ford pickup truck, driven by 20-year-old Chad Garren Cooley of DeQuincy, was traveling east on Camp Edgewood Road at a high rate of speed. Cooley lost control of the vehicle and traveled off the roadway to the right. The vehicle then traveled back across the roadway and overturned.
Lacy, who was the front seat passenger in the Ford, was unrestrained at the time of the crash and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cooley sustained moderate injuries and was transported to a Lake Charles area hospital for treatment.
A toxicology sample was obtained from the driver and will be submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.
Motorists must be reminded that alcohol and other drugs have many effects on the body. Alcohol and other drugs can impair visual ability, alter sense of time and space, impair fine motor skills needed to operate a motor vehicle, and decrease reaction times. Just one drink may cause these effects. Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead and designate a sober driver. Not doing so can have deadly consequences.
Properly wearing your seat belt will dramatically reduce your chance of being injured or killed in a crash. Louisiana law requires that every person in a vehicle, regardless of seating position, always remain buckled up. Not wearing a seat belt remains the leading cause of death in motor vehicle crashes.
Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, and increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a situation. Speeding and other aggressive driving behaviors are among the leading causes of highway crashes.
Troop D has investigated 17 fatal crashes resulting in 19 deaths in 2022.
Contact Information:
TFC Derek Senegal
Louisiana State Police
Public Affairs Section
Office: (337) 491-2466
