Wrap your head around this. Three young black men walking down the street in Louisiana are hit and injured by a passing truck and while healing from injuries from the accident, they find out they're being charged with not wearing reflective gear and the driver of the truck isn't charged at all.
It sounds like a really horrible joke, but it's not. According to KATC, Deonte Williams, 21; Cody Mayes, 19; and Tevin Wilson, 17, are still recovering from their injuries after being hit by a truck while walking along North Chataignier Street in Ville Platte, Louisiana, around 8 p.m. on Aug. 22. The three men are not only upset about being hit, but also about finding out they've been fined with not wearing reflective gear and obstructing a public passage, while at this time the driver hasn't been charged at all.
“For me to find out that this guy gets to just go home — we all get some misdemeanors and nothing happened to him,” Williams told KATC. “I’m upset about it.”
Police are citing a city ordinance that requires pedestrians to wear reflective garments when walking after dark. Police say the driver of the truck stayed on the scene after the accident and explained that he was blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle when it happened, but the victims aren't quite convinced, stating that they weren't in the middle of the road at the time they were hit. Williams told the news station that they were walking on the side of the road near the grass, because there's no sidewalk, when they were hit from behind.
Williams told another news station KADN, that he didn't think the driver would've stuck around after hitting them if it weren't for nearby residents coming out of the homes after the incident.
KADN reports that Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue said the case is still under investigation. The three young men are hoping their charges will be dropped.