L’Observateur / September 14, 1998

LAPLACE – An Oklahoma man was apparently struck and killed by a passing Kansas City Southern train after he left the scene of a two-car accident Sept. 5.Lt. Michael Tregre of the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office reported thatJames Carpenter, 30, during the past few months a resident of Ideal Trailer Court, LaPlace, and a TransAmerican Refinery employee, was driving a 1988 Chevrolet Blazer involved in a traffic accident on Capt.

George Bourgeois Street.

Neither vehicle was seriously damaged and there were no injuries to either driver. However, when the other driver left to call police at 3:17a.m., Carpenter left the scene.Tregre added Carpenter had been drinking earlier at a nearby tavern.

At 6:48 a.m., a passerby noticed Carpenter’s body not far away, lying nearthe Kansas City Southern tracks. He dashed to notify Lt. Juan Watkins ofthe St. John Sheriff’s Office, who notified the detective division of thefind.

Detectives found Carpenter, shattered by the impact and with his left leg severed, at the scene. Tregre added the train’s impact had apparentlyknocked the battery from Carpenter’s wristwatch, which was found stopped at 3:38.45 a.m.Release of details of the accident were delayed, pending notification of next of kin in Oklahoma.

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