DWI suspected in crash that hurt 28 at New Orleans parade

NEW ORLEANS -- Authorities on Sunday identified the man accused of plowing into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans while intoxicated.

The New Orleans Police Department identified the man as Neilson Rizzuto, 25. Online records showed Rizzuto was arrested on several charges and was being held at the city's jail.

The accident came Saturday 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 clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders.

"We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated," police chief Michael Harrison had said Saturday evening.

Harrison was asked by reporters whether terrorism was suspected. While he didn't say "No," he said it looks as if it's a case of DWI.

Neilson Rizutto

Twenty-one people were hospitalized after the crash, with five victims taken to the trauma center in guarded condition. Their conditions did not seem to be life-threatening, said Dr. Jeff Elder, city emergency-services director.

Seven others declined to be hospitalized, he said.

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

Among the injured was an New Orleans police officer. Harrison said the officer was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries. She was in "good spirits," he said.

While police and city officials assessed the accident scene, people streamed home as plastic bags that used to hold trinkets and discarded beads littering the ground.

One woman at the scene told The New Orleans Advocate a silver truck whisked closely by her as she walked through an intersection.

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

Kourtney McKinnis, 20, told the Advocate the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

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