Traffic slowed all day Thursday
Florence Cazenave, reporter
11-09-2007
A 23-year-old Ruston man died early this morning from injuries he
sustained Thursday in a wreck on Interstate 20 in Ruston.Ruston Police Department Capt. Bill Davis said Jim T. “Bo” Best died shortly after midnight at LSU-Shreveport Medical Center. He was a Ruston High graduate and former Bearcat football player.
According to police, Best was driving a white 1997 Ford pickup truck westbound in the right lane of I-20 around 11:24 a.m. Thursday and did not realize traffic ahead of him had stopped due to construction taking place between Exit 86 and Exit 85.
A 2007 Freightliner 18-wheeler was stopped in traffic in the lane in front of Best, Davis said. When Best saw the 18-wheeler, he attempted to stop and swerved to the left, but he could not avoid hitting the rear of the truck.
Eric Brazzel, Ruston Fire Department’s public education officer, responded to the wreck and said traffic on that stretch of interstate had been stop-and-go all day Thursday.
“We got called to the scene to find a pickup truck had rear-ended an 18-wheeler,” Brazzel said. “The occupant of the pickup truck was partially ejected.”
Ruston Fire Department paramedics treated Best at the scene, then called in a Pafford Emergency Medical Services helicopter to transport Best to LSU-Shreveport Medical Center, he said.
Best’s Labrador retriever was riding in the truck with him and died as a result of the wreck, Brazzel said.
The occupants of the 18-wheeler were Daniel L. Fredericks, Jr., 47, of Pottsville, Texas, and Maria Bochicohio, 47, of Temple, Texas. Neither suffered any injuries, according to Davis.
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