Berwick, LA. – On Sunday March 20,2022, at approximately 9:56 pm, the Berwick Police Department received numerous calls of a two-vehicle crash on the LA Hwy. 182 bridge involving a motorcycle. Officers of the Berwick Police Department along with Berwick Volunteer Fire Department and Acadian Ambulance responded.
The preliminary investigation revealed that a 2002 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling west over the La Hwy. 182 bridge. For reasons still under investigation, the motorcycle collided into the rear of a 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck that was also traveling west over the bridge. After impact, the driver of the motorcycle, Ralph Patterson Jr. of Morgan City, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene by the St. Mary Parish Coroner. A toxicology sample was obtained and submitted for analysis.
The driver of the Chevrolet pickup truck was identified as 59-year-old Donald Eues of Berwick. Toxicology samples were collected from Eues as well and the results are pending at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab.
According to witnesses the driver of the motorcycle was observed traveling in a reckless manner before driving onto the bridge.