Louisiana officer arrested, charged in crash that killed two teens
BATON ROUGE, La. (NewsNation) — A high-speed police chase in Addis, Louisiana, on New Year’s Eve ended in tragedy when a police officer crashed his cruiser into an unrelated vehicle, killing two high school cheerleaders and severely injuring a third victim, authorities said.
The victims — Maggie Dunn, 17, and Caroline Gill, 16 — were pronounced dead on the scene, while a third victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. The third victim was reported by WBRZ to be Dunn’s teenage brother.
The Addis police officer, David Cauthron, 42, who joined in on the chase, was arrested and booked on Sunday on two counts of negligent homicide and one count of negligent injuring, police told WBRZ.
The chase started in Baton Rouge when the suspect stole a car after breaking into a home and taking the keys, police said.
Officers chased the stolen car across a Mississippi River bridge and a police cruiser from Addis that joined the chase struck the car with the teenagers on Louisiana Highway 1 near Brusly, authorities said.
The driver took the stolen car back across the Mississippi River before he was stopped, investigators said.
Tyquel Zanders, 24, was charged with two counts of manslaughter as well as home invasion, theft of a vehicle and aggravated flight, police said.
On Monday, Dunn and Gill’s cheerleading team and the community held a candlelight vigil for the victims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.