Raceland man dies in wreck

Mitchell Bonnette, 28, of Raceland was killed Saturday morning after his pickup crossed the median on U.S. Highway 90 and struck a loaded sugarcane truck, state police reported.

The accident occurred around 6:30 a.m. Saturday on the Des Allemands Bridge, said Trooper First Class Gilbert Dardar Jr.

State police said Bonnette’s 2002 Toyota truck was traveling east when he failed to negotiate a right curve, crossed the median while rotating clockwise and struck an oncoming tractor trailer at the foot of the bridge. The driver’s side of the pickup struck the fully loaded sugarcane truck.

The 2002 Kenworth tractor trailer driver, Leroy Whittington, 61, of St. James, was not injured.

According to state police, the Toyota was pushed backward, rotating 360 degrees, before coming to rest in the westbound lanes of U.S. 90. The Kenworth trailer crossed the median and stopped after hitting the eastbound guardrail.

The Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Office pronounced Bonnette dead at the scene.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts, state police said, and alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the wreck. Whittington was given a breath test, the results of which were .000g percent, Dardar said. In accordance with state law, the coroner’s office is analyzing Bonnette’s blood.

Dardar said the investigation is ongoing.