Monday, February 22, 2010

Officer Jason Cortez Runs Through Checkpoint

An off-duty Covington police officer and a woman were critically injured in a car crash early Sunday, police said.

Col. Michael Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police said the single-vehicle crash happened at about 2:10 a.m. on Louisiana Highway 21 in St. Tammany Parish.

Police said Jason Cortez, 26, of Bush, La., was traveling north on LA 21 in a 2008 Ford Mustang when he approached a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office checkpoint manned by three deputies who were searching for an escaped inmate.

"Cortez came to a stop prior to the checkpoint and was instructed to proceed forward by the deputies, at which time he accelerated and sped through the checkpoint proceeding northbound on LA 21 at a high rate of speed," Edmonson said.

As deputies attempted to catch up with the Mustang to conduct a traffic stop, Cortez failed to negotiate a left curve and ran off the right side of the roadway. The vehicle traveled about 72 feet through a ditch before hitting a culvert and becoming airborne.

"The Mustang rotated counterclockwise and began to overturn when it impacted a utility pole, breaking the pole in half. The vehicle came to a rest upright on its wheels in a ditch on the east side of LA 21," Edmonson said.

Cortez and his passenger, 23-year-old Brittany Thornhill, of Covington, were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash and were ejected from the vehicle. They were transported to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in critical condition.

Edmonson said authorities believe alcohol was a factor in the crash. Investigators are awaiting the results of a urine and blood sample taken from Cortez, against whom charges are pending.

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