You are the owner of this article.</s>At least two damaged Blue Bikes -- the city’s bike sharing service -- could be seen on the street while investigators worked the scene in the 3200 block of Saturday night. Ferguson said investigators were not sure if all the victims were on bicycles when they were hit, but confirmed at least five or six were.</s>A police officer's son was held Sunday on more than a half-million dollars' bond after two people were killed and seven others were injured, three of them critically, when a vehicle struck them on a busy New Orleans street, authorities said.

The man, Tashonty C. Toney, who turned 32 on Saturday, was likely impaired, New Orleans police spokesman Andy Cunningham said Sunday morning. NBC affiliate WDSU reported that court records quoted Toney as having told officers: "I have a drinking problem. I should have gotten help."

Toney was held on $510,000 bond pending a hearing on Thursday on two counts of vehicular homicide and seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation.

Lt. Jonathan Fourcade, a spokesman for New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, said a man and a woman, both about 30 years old, were killed. The injured were ages 28 to 65, he said.

Witnesses told WDSU that the car sideswiped several vehicles before it came to a stop outside a restaurant, where the driver tried to flee before bystanders jumped in. A witness told The New Orleans Advocate that the driver asked whether he had killed anybody and then remarked: "Call my daddy — call my daddy. He's NOPD."

Police confirmed that Toney's father is a New Orleans officer.

Police Supt. Shaun Ferguson said bystanders stopped the driver along a stretch of Esplanade Avenue near where the Krewe of Endymion was holding its annual Mardi Gras parade, one of the city's largest, at about 8 p.m. Saturday.

"EMS, fire department was immediately on scene to render assistance to these victims — and not just with us and our public safety departments, but also with our citizens, who were providing CPR to some of the victims while our medical staff was en route to this scene," Ferguson said.</s>Lindale man charged with vehicular homicide among most recent indictments</s>NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - A police spokesman says the man arrested in a crash on a busy New Orleans thoroughfare that killed two people is believed to have been impaired at the time.

In a news release, Andy Cunningham identified the suspect as 32-year-old Tashonty Toney and said he was the son of a New Orleans police officer.

Cunningham says that discovery will not change the department's investigation, which he said will be "open and transparent."

According to the news release, Saturday was Toney's birthday. Police are awaiting the results of a blood alcohol test.

Police initially said six people were also injured in the crash.

But in the news release, Cunningham said another victim who did not seek assistance at the scene was later taken to the hospital in a private vehicle.

Toney faces two counts of vehicular homicide, seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation.

EMS spokesman Jonathan Fourcade says a man and a woman — both about 30 years old — were killed. The injured ranged in ages from 28 to 65.

The incident happened not far from the Endymion parade, one of the city's biggest Mardi Gras parades.</s>The driver accused of hitting and killing two people and injuring several others on Esplanade Avenue near the Krewe of Endymion parade route Saturday night (March 2) was identified early Sunday morning as 32-year-old Tashonty Toney.

Toney will face charges of two counts of vehicular homicide, seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation, police said.

Toney is the son of a New Orleans Police Department officer, according to department spokesman Andy Cunningham.

“During the course of the investigation it has been learned the subject is the son of an NOPD Officer,” Cunningham said in a statement. “This discovery does not change and will not impact our department’s investigation which will be open and transparent.”

NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson has been in touch with the department’s consent decree monitor about the case, Cunningham said.

Police initially said two people were killed and six were injured as Toney crashed into them between the 3200 and 3400 blocks of Esplanade Avenue, but early Sunday morning added an additional person to the tally of the injured. The ninth person at first did not seek help on scene but was later encouraged by officials to seek medical care, and was taken to the hospital in a private car, Cunningham said.

Toney is believed to have been “impaired” when he hit the people, most of whom were on bicycles, Cunningham said. NOPD is awaiting blood alcohol test results.

Police had said that the driver would be taken to the hospital after undergoing a standard protocol of testing for impairment. Toney was booked into the Orleans Justice Center jail at 5:18 a.m., according to jail records online.

Toney does not appear to have a prior criminal record in Orleans Parish, according to court records.

Check back with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for more details.</s>NEW ORLEANS — A car plowed into bicyclists and pedestrians on a street in New Orleans, killing two people and injuring six others as the city celebrates Mardi Gras festivities.

A majority of the people struck Saturday night were on bicycles, but it’s unclear how many, Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said. Of the people injured, three are in critical condition.

The driver, Tashonty Toney, 32, was arrested and faces several charges, including two counts of vehicular homicide, hit and run, and reckless operation, the New Orleans Police Department tweeted.

Toney was not injured and fled the scene, Ferguson said

“We were able to apprehend the subject so quickly because citizens stopped this individual because they thought they were helping someone who had just been involved in a one-car accident,” Ferguson said.

Officers determined that the accident scene spanned several blocks of Esplanade Avenue. Earlier, police had said they are investigating whether the driver was intoxicated, and standard protocol involves breathalyzer and blood tests.

Police did not provide details on the people killed or injured. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office will release the victims’ identities after autopsies are completed and family members notified.

While no motive is currently known, the incident does not appear connected to the Endymion parade, a Mardi Gras-related activity that was happening nearby, Ferguson said.

The crash comes about two years after a drunken driver rammed into a crowd taking part in the Endymion parade, injuring at least 28 people. The driver in that 2017 crash, Neilson Rizzuto, was charged with vehicular negligence resulting in injury, reckless operation and hit-and-run driving.

The Endymion parade is one of the most popular events leading up to Mardi Gras, which is Tuesday. Mardi Gras is a day of revelry that includes parades, parties and food before the Christian fasting season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It marks the last day of the Carnival season.</s>New Orleans: Two killed and six injured after car hits group on busy street

New Orleans: Two killed and six injured after car hits group on busy street

Two people died after they were hit by a car in New Orleans. Pic: ABC

Two people have been killed and six injured after they were hit by a vehicle in New Orleans.

The victims were a man and a woman both aged about 30, while the injured range in age from 28 to 65, according to emergency services.

Five of those injured - a man, 56, two 28-year-old women, a man, 62, and a woman, 53 - were taken to hospital.

Three of them were critically wounded, local media reported.

The sixth person injured was a man, 65, who refused hospital treatment after the Saturday evening incident.

New Orleans Police Department said on Twitter that they had arrested Tashonty Toney, 32, in connection with the incident.

He is suspected of two counts of vehicular homicide and seven of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

Fox reported that the night of the crash was Toney's 32nd birthday and officers said on Twitter: "It is believed Toney was impaired at the time of the incident."

A witness, Dane Barrymore, told The New Orleans Advocate that he had seen a dark sports car speeding down the street.

The driver had swerved into a cycle lane to avoid another vehicle, he said, adding: "It just happened there were people there - cyclists."

He saw the car hit two women and a man and, although he went to help, it was clear that the man and one of the women had not survived.

Mr Barrymore said the car continued down the street, hitting another vehicle and spinning out of control.

Another witness, Robert Miller, told The Times-Picayune that the vehicle had been "flying" as it "blew by us".

The incident happened just a few blocks from the Endymion parade, one of the city's biggest Mardi Gras parades.</s>New Orleans police were awaiting the results of a blood alcohol test Sunday on a driver whose car rammed into bicyclists and pedestrians – killing two and injuring seven – just blocks from one of the city's most extravagant and beloved Mardi Gras parades.

The suspect was identified as Tashonty Toney, 32, and was believed to have been impaired at the time of the incident Saturday night, police spokesman Andy Cunningham said in a statement. Toney, who was arrested at the scene, is the son of a New Orleans police officer and his birthday was Saturday, he said.

Toney faces two counts of vehicular homicide, seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run and reckless operation, the department tweeted.

EMS spokesman Jonathan Fourcade said a man and a woman, both about 30, were killed. Three of the injured were in critical condition, EMS Director Emily Nichols told WVUE-TV.

Witnesses described a speeding dark sports car that was attempting to pass another vehicle when it swerved into a bike lane and spun out on the median.

Cyclist Frank Rourk told The New Orleans Advocate he saw the suspect jump out of his car without a shirt after the crash, run to the corner and lie down on the sidewalk.

Rourk said he and two other people were able to rouse the driver, who apparently had lost consciousness. Rourk, who said he initially didn’t realize anyone was struck, told the driver: “I’m pretty sure you’re the guy who wrecked the car. You better go back there.” The driver then asked whether he had killed anyone, he said.

Another witness, Dane Barrymore, told the Advocate he was smoking a cigarette outside a market when the car flew by and careened into the bike lane, striking two women and one man. “It just happened there were people there – bicyclists,” he said.

“We were able to apprehend the subject so quickly because citizens stopped this individual because they thought they were helping someone who had just been involved in a one-car accident,” Ferguson said.

The incident along historic Esplanade Avenue – a quaint stretch still dotted with 19th-century mansions that runs through the heart of the city – took place after the superkrewe Endymion's parade rolled through nearby streets. With 3,000 riders and 37 floats, Endymion is the city's biggest parade leading up to Mardi Gras on Tuesday.

The crash also comes two years after a driver slammed a pickup into a crowd watching the Endymion parade, injuring 32 people.

More: Police: Mardi Gras crash suspect had blood alcohol level 3 times the limit</s>NEW ORLEANS — Police suspect a driver was impaired when he killed two people and injured seven others, most of them riding bikes, on a busy New Orleans thoroughfare as large crowds gathered in the city for Mardi Gras.

Police spokesman Andy Cunningham said in statement Sunday morning that authorities are waiting for the results of a blood alcohol test, but they believe the suspect was impaired at the time of the crash Saturday evening.

He identified the suspect who was arrested at the scene as 32-year-old Tashonty Toney and said he was the son of a New Orleans police officer.

Cunningham says that discovery will not change the department’s investigation which he said will be “open and transparent.”

Saturday was Toney’s birthday, the news release said.

Toney faces two counts of vehicular homicide, seven counts of vehicular negligent injury, hit and run, and reckless operation, the release said.

The crash happened along a multiple-block stretch of Esplanade Avenue, a leafy street that connects the city’s biggest park with the French Quarter. The scene was close to the route of the Endymion parade, one of New Orleans’ largest Mardi Gras parades, that was held Saturday.

New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson told a news conference late Saturday that despite the crash’s proximity to the parade route, “we do not believe at this point in time that this has anything to do with the Endymion parade.”

Police said most of the victims were bicyclists, and photographs of the scene showed mangled bikes along the side of the street.

Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told local media that bystanders in the area were the ones who stopped the driver.

“We were able to apprehend the subject so quickly because citizens stopped this individual, because they thought they were helping someone who had just been involved in a one-car accident,” Ferguson said.

One witness, cyclist Frank Rourk, told The New Orleans Advocate that he saw a driver of a dark sports car spin out on the median. The driver ran to a nearby corner and laid down on the sidewalk where he lost consciousness.

Rourk and two other people were able to wake the driver, and Rourk, who initially didn’t realize anyone was hit, told the driver: “I’m pretty sure you’re the guy who wrecked the car. You better go back there.” The driver then asked whether he had killed anyone.

EMS spokesman Jonathan Fourcade said a man and a woman — both about 30 years old — were killed.

EMS Director Emily Nichols told WVUE-TV that three of the five people brought to the hospital were in critical condition.

One onlooker, Dane Barrymore, told The New Orleans Advocate that he was smoking a cigarette outside a market when he saw a dark sports car speeding down the street. The driver swerved into the bike lane to try to go around a vehicle.

“It just happened there were people there – bicyclists,” Barrymore said. Barrymore said he saw two women and one man get struck. He said he went to help but it quickly became apparent that one of the women and the man didn’t survive.
Tashonty Toney, son of a police officer, was arrested for vehicular homicide, vehicular negligent injury, hit-and-run and reckless operation of a motor vehicle after he veered into a bike line near a Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans. He accidentally killed 2 and injured 7 cyclists while drunk and drugged.