Lafayette man, 23, charged with OWI, vehicular homicide after fatal crash

A 23-year-old Lafayette man for whom police had been looking ever since he was involved in a fatal Jan. 16 crash surrendered to authorities last week.

Authorities believe the man was intoxicated when he was involved in an accident on Van Buren Drive and Moss Street. He had been trying to turn onto Van Buren when he struck a southbound vehicle.

The collision badly injured the 33-year-old man who was driving the SUV and fatally injured a 2-year-old child who was also in the SUV. It is not known if the man and child were related.

The 23-year-old man has now been charged with vehicular homicide, driving under suspension, failure to yield while turning left and OWI.

Now, we do not have any personal insight into this man's state of mind, but it is fair to assume that after the accident, he was overcome with remorse and fear. We think those are natural feelings to have, but evading authorities the way this man did is not advisable.

Facing criminal allegations is very hard. We certainly understand that. However, there can be no resolution until you face up to the accusations against you. With the assistance of a criminal defense attorney, you might find that the whole process is not as daunting as you once believed it to be.

Source: The Advocate, "OWI suspect booked in fatal crash," Jan. 24, 2013

• In our Lafayette law office, we assist people who have been accused of crimes, including driving while intoxicated. If you are interested in learning more about what we do, we invite you to visit the Criminal Defense portion of our website.