NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- It's too soon to discuss whether new safety rules will be established after a man accused of driving drunk plowed into a Mardi Gras parade crowd, a New Orleans police spokesman said Monday.

"It's probably a little premature," Michael "Beau" Tidwell said. "We're working now to make sure everything was handled correctly and victims were well taken care of."

He said he's also trying to track down why a police report puts the number of people hit at 32. Earlier statements had the number at 28, with 21 taken to hospitals and seven declining treatment.

The accident occurred Saturday night during one of the season's glitziest parades. The Krewe of Endymion travels a route more than 5 miles long, most of it on four-lane streets divided by a wide median.

Thousands of people throng the sidewalks and medians to watch the elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed by riders. Those in the median are facing away from the side of the street that remains open for traffic. A pickup truck hit two other vehicles on that side of the street, then wound up in the median, police said.

Those injured include police Lt. Michelle Woodfork, niece of former Police Superintendent Warren Woodfork, Tidwell said. The current superintendent, Michael Harrison, said earlier that she was on parade duty.

Driver Neilson Rizzuto, 25, is jailed, his bond set at $125,000 on charges of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring, hit-and-run driving causing serious injury and reckless driving. Police have said a breath test showed a blood alcohol level nearly triple the level considered legal proof of intoxication.

At least three victims remained hospitalized overnight with moderate to serious injuries, police said Sunday. There were no fatalities.

Ages of the victims ranged from 1 to patients in their 50s, police said.

Tidwell said health privacy rules meant that he could not give more detailed information about the victims or update their conditions.

Asked by reporters Saturday night whether police suspected terrorism, Superintendent Harrison said, "We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated."

Rizzuto is being held on $125,000 bond in a New Orleans jail, online records show.

Commissioner Robert Blackburn said if Rizzuto makes bond he would be placed under house arrest, required to wear an ankle monitor and forbidden from driving, The Advocate reported (http://bit.ly/2mtjUnG).

The commissioner told Rizzuto, who was handcuffed and wearing an orange jumper, that he was setting the bail for an amount he "envisioned" for about 21 counts - referring to the number of people who went to the hospital.

Rizzuto's father told WWL-TV (http://bit.ly/2lZWmcs) that he was still trying to understand what happened and that his son is a "good kid." John Rizzuto told the station he spoke with his son multiple times Sunday morning and that his son said "a stranger gave him a drink off the street and that's the last thing he remembered."

Saturday night's parade was put on by the Krewe of Endymion, which is known for its long, elaborate floats and the big party it hosts at the Superdome after the parade.

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Associated Press writer Kevin McGill contributed to this report.</s>Twelve people were hurt when a vehicle plowed into a crowd at Carrollton and Orleans avenues in New Orleans, police said. (Google map)</s>New Orleans: At least 28 injured after vehicle ploughs into mardi gras crowd

Updated

A 25-year-old man accused of ploughing a pickup truck into a crowd of spectators at a mardi gras parade in New Orleans has been arrested and charged with injuring 28 people, authorities said.

New Orleans police booked Neilson Rizzuto after taking him into custody in "a highly intoxicated state" immediately after the accident on Saturday evening (local time).

Rizzuto was charged with two counts of vehicular negligence injuring in the first degree, hit and run driving and the reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to a statement.

No further information about Rizzuto was immediately available.

The utility vehicle, travelling along the side of the street open to traffic along the Mid-City Krewe of Endymion parade route, struck three other vehicles, including a garbage truck, before veering onto the median strip where a crowd of people stood watching the procession, according to New Orleans police.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu in a statement referred to the suspect as a "drunk driver".

Twenty-one people were hospitalised after the crash, with five victims in serious condition.

Seven others declined to be hospitalised, city emergency services director Jeff Selder said.

The victims ranged in age from as young as three or four years old to adults in their 30s and 40s, Dr Selder said.

Among the injured was one New Orleans police officer.

Police Chief Michael Harrison said the officer, who was on duty, was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries.

She was in "good spirits", he said.

Video footage shows pandemonium

Video footage from the scene showed pandemonium immediately following the early evening incident, but the parade, the largest and most popular of numerous mardi gras season parades in New Orleans, continued with little or no interruption.

The incident came 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 clamour to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders.

As police and city officials were assessing the scene, people were streaming home as plastic bags that used to hold trinkets and discarded beads littered the ground.

The area where the incident occurred was cordoned off with police barricades.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her, just feet away, as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said she "felt a rush it was so fast".

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

"He was just kind of out of it," she said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in New Orleans said its agents were "coordinating with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to determine whether a federal violation has occurred".

The Endymion parade incident was not the only one to mar mardi gras festivities in New Orleans.

Earlier in the day, someone's gun went off accidentally in a portable toilet along the route of another, smaller parade, leaving one person wounded, police said.

AP/Reuters

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, united-states

First posted</s>A pickup truck driven by a man who appeared to be “highly intoxicated” plowed into a crowd of spectators watching the main Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans on Saturday, sending more than 20 people to the hospital, police said.

The truck, travelling along the side of the street open to traffic along the Mid-City parade route, struck three other vehicles, including a dump truck, before veering onto the median where a crowd of people stood watching the procession, according to New Orleans police.

Police immediately apprehended the pickup driver, who according to eyewitnesses interviewed by Fox television affiliate WVEU-TV appeared dishevelled, glassy-eyed and under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Video footage from the scene showed pandemonium immediately following the early evening 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.

A total of 28 people were injured, 21 of whom were taken to a local hospital, including one police officer. Seven others who were hurt declined transport, Police Chief Michael Harrison told a news conference.

Local media reports said 12 people were initially listed as critically injured.

Harrison said police believed the motorist who was arrested was “highly intoxicated” and was being questioned at the police department’s drunken-driving office.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in New Orleans said its agents were “co-ordinating with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to determine whether a federal violation has occurred.”

The Endymion parade incident was not the only one to mar Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans on Saturday. Earlier in the day, someone’s gun went off accidentally in a portable toilet along the route of another, smaller parade, leaving one person wounded, police said.</s>NEW ORLEANS -- 21 people were injured after a car ran into crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade Saturday night in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.

Around 7 p.m., a truck traveling in the area hit two other cars before veering into an area of the neutral ground on Orleans Avenue near Carrollton Avenue where people were standing to view the parade.

Jake Chavez said he saw two men and two women who were hit by a pickup truck that apparently turned into the crowd watching the Endymion parade.

Two other cars were involved in the accident which happened near the intersection of Carrollton and Orleans Avenues. Witnesses say the truck was traveling down the open lanes of Carrollton Avenue headed toward city park when it veered left and traveled toward the neutral ground of Orleans Avenue.

At least one arrest has been made, according to WWLTV investigator David Hammer who was watching the parade nearby. He tweeted a photo of a man being taken away by police.

During a press conference with Mayor Mitch Landrieu and NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison said a total of 21 people were injured in the accident.

Five people were taken into the trauma center and seven people declined medical attention.

The 21 victims range in ages from 3-4 years old to up to 40-or-so years old.

Police say the driver hit a number of cars before striking several people on the neutral ground.

Mayor Landrieu also said the driver was intoxicated.

Police said 10 ambulances took those who were injured to seven different hospitals.</s>× Police: 28 hurt after car plows into parade crowd in New Orleans; suspect in custody

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police say the number of people injured after a vehicle crashed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans has increased to 28 and a suspect is in custody.

Police Chief Michael Harrison says one person is in custody and that he is being investigated for driving while intoxicated. Harrison says police do not suspect terrorism.

Harrison says that 21 people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said, “I felt a rush it was so fast.”

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

“He was just kind of out of it,” she said.</s>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say the number of people injured after a vehicle crashed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans has increased to 28 and a suspect is in custody.

Police Chief Michael Harrison says one person in custody and that he is being investigated for driving while intoxicated. Harrison says police do not suspect terrorism.

Harrison says that 21 people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized.

Police say 12 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans.

The crash was reported Saturday at about 6:45 p.m.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington said that “initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition.”

She says that number could increase as the investigation continues.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate (http://bit.ly/2miOHGP) that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said, “I felt a rush it was so fast.”

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

“He was just kind of out of it,” she said.</s>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Police say 12 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans.

The crash was reported Saturday at about 6:45 p.m.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington says that “initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition.”

She says that number could increase as the investigation continues.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said, “I felt a rush it was so fast.”

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

“He was just kind of out of it,” she said.</s>Police say 12 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans.

The Times-Picayune reports the crash was reported Saturday at about 6:45 p.m.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington says that "initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition."

She says that number could increase as the investigation continues.</s>Police say 12 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans. The crash was reported yesterday at about 6:45 pm. New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Ambria Washington says that “initial reports show so far that about a dozen people are in critical condition.” She says that number could increase as the investigation continues. A suspect is in custody after 28 people were injured Saturday when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans, police said.

Police Chief Michael Harrison said the suspect is being investigated for driving while intoxicated. Harrison was asked twice by the media if terrorism was suspected. While he didn’t say “No” he did say it looks like a case of DWI.

“We suspect that the subject was highly intoxicated,” he said.

Twenty-one people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized, city Emergency Services Director, Dr Jeff Selder said.

The victims range in age from as young as 3 or 4-years-old to adults in their 30s and 40s, said Selder.

Among the injured was one New Orleans police officer. Harrison said the officer, who was on duty, was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries. She was in “good spirits,” he said.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection.

Carrie Kinsella said, “I felt a rush it was so fast.”

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done. “He was just kind of out of it,” she said.
A suspected drunken driver plows his car into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. Dozens are injured, with 28 people, including a child and a police officer, taken to seven hospitals, five in critical condition.