Prison for Gulfport man after crash sent trucker into river

A Gulfport man has received a maximum five-year prison sentence for causing a fatal accident on Interstate 10 last year that sent an 18-wheeler plunging off the Middle Pearl River bridge near Slidell.

NOLA.com/Times-Picayune reports Daniel Coy, 26, was sentenced on a charge of negligent homicide and 10 years for hit-and-run. Ad hoc Judge Donald Fendlason suspended five years of the latter sentence. The St. Tammany Parish District Attorney's Office, in a news release Tuesday, said the two sentences will be served at the same time.

The Nov. 3 accident claimed the life of truck driver Steven Clark, 26, of Theodore, Ala.

Coy was driving west on a foggy morning when he used the right shoulder to pass two 18-wheelers. The shoulder narrowed at the bridge and Coy's truck hit a guardrail, causing him to swerve into the right lane, hitting one of the tractor-trailers. That impact pushed the 18-wheeler into the left lane and into the truck driven by Clark.

Clark's truck went into the river, where it sank.

Coy fled the scene, but Louisiana State Police tracked him down.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Prison for Gulfport man after crash sent trucker into river."