NEW ORLEANS — Driving in a pick-up truck, a Pearl River man hit and killed a pedestrian Sunday evening in Slidell, police officers said.
Investigators believe the pedestrian was trying to cross Gause Boulevard near the Maris Stella Street intersection, a spokesperson with the Slidell Police Department said. That's where the crash happened.
Monday evening, a St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office spokesperson said the pedestrian was Eric Dewayne Smith, 49, who was from Jackson, Mississippi.
The coroner's office said a family member recognized a scar on Smith's body.
The driver, 68-year-old Vincent Mancuso, submitted to blood tests for drugs and alcohol, but police do not think the driver was impaired. Smith was also tested. The results of those tests were pending Monday.
Around 6 p.m. Sunday, the truck hit Smith, leaving him in critical condition, a police spokesperson said.
Gause Boulevard, also known as Highway 190, was shut down in both directions at the intersection to allow officers to investigate the accident, a police spokesperson said in a social media post.
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