A Louisiana man is charged after two police officers died in a helicopter crash during a high-speed chase, Baton Rouge police officers said.
Around 2:30 a.m. on March 26, Baton Rouge police officers began chasing a 2014 Ford Mustang, according to a press release from the West Baton Rouge Township Sheriff’s Office and the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Deandre Dwayne Bessye, 23, fled from police and reached top speeds of 135 miles per hour before the pursuit was called off, officers said.
About 45 minutes later, the West Baton Rouge Township Sheriff’s Office was called to a home because an abandoned vehicle they later discovered was the Ford Mustang involved in the pursuit.
MPs said Bessye stopped at the residence and asked the property owner if he could drive to a nearby gas station because he was out of gas.
The property owner drove Bessye to a gas station, where he called a friend to pick him up and take him to his home in Baton Rouge, lawmakers said.
At the time the chase began, a Baton Rouge police helicopter took off from a local airport and flew for 12 minutes, according to flight data, before crashing into a field, killing both officers on board, WBRZ reported.
A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter’s tail rotor struck a tree, causing the helicopter to overturn and crash into a field in Port Allen, Louisiana.
The sheriff’s office became aware of the accident hours later when a family member of one of the officers contacted the office just after 10:45 a.m. and asked the deputies to respond “to a rural area” between two streets.
MPs said they found the downed police department helicopter in the area, and both officers died.
Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport’s air traffic control center is regularly unmanned between midnight and 5 a.m., likely contributing to the crash going unnoticed by officials for eight hours, WBRZ reported.
Police identified the officers as 17-year-old police veteran Sgt. David Poirrier, 47, and 16-year-old police veteran Cpl. Scotty Canezaro, 38. Both were assigned to the Air Support Unit, according to police.
The story goes on
Police said they “assisted uniformed officers in a vehicle pursuit when the helicopter went down.”
Both officers were celebrated members of their communities and recalled sharing “a love of air patrol” with children at Baton Rouge.
Bessye was arrested on charges of aggravated obstruction of a highway or trade, aggravated flight from an officer and double manslaughter, according to law enforcement.
The investigations into Bessye and the helicopter crash are ongoing.
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