Authorities said the Saturday crash in Iberia Parish did not appear intentional, but it injured paradegoers, shut down much of the festival and left investigators sorting through changing victim counts.
NEW IBERIA, La. — Louisiana authorities charged a 57-year-old driver after his vehicle hit a crowd at a Lao New Year parade in Iberia Parish on Saturday afternoon, injuring at least 15 people, disrupting a major holiday gathering and sending several victims to hospitals.
The crash quickly became more than a traffic case. Troopers said Todd Landry of Jeanerette showed signs of impairment after the vehicle struck parade watchers near Lanxang Village, a long-standing center of the Lao community in south Louisiana. Early public updates put the number of injured at 15, while ambulance crews said 13 people were taken to hospitals and two were airlifted. By Sunday, a local report put the number at 19, and the charge sheet listed 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring. The shifting totals left investigators and families waiting for a clearer accounting of who was hurt, how badly they were hurt and whether more criminal counts could follow.
Authorities said the crash happened at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday near Savannaket Street and Melancon Road during the Louisiana Lao New Year Festival, a three-day celebration that draws families, elders, children and visitors from across the region. Witness video and television footage from the scene showed people scattered on the ground, emergency vehicles pushing toward the parade route and a blue vehicle resting in a ditch after the impact. Firefighters worked around food stands and spectators, and rescuers helped at least one person who was trapped beneath the vehicle. Rebecca Melancon, a spokesperson for the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the preliminary investigation suggested the crash “does not appear to be an intentional act.” That early judgment shaped the first hours of the response. Deputies secured the area as a crash scene rather than a deliberate attack scene, even as medics rushed to treat victims and relatives tried to find family members in the crowd.
State police said Landry, 57, was arrested after investigators found signs of impairment and obtained a breath sample showing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.137g%. Troopers booked him into the Iberia Parish jail on one count of driving while impaired, 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring, careless operation and open container. Acadian Ambulance said it sent 10 ambulances and a helicopter to the scene. The company said 13 patients were taken to hospitals and two of them were flown for more urgent care. Officials have not released a full list of victims, their ages or a detailed breakdown of their injuries. They also have not publicly explained why the first injury total was reported as 15 while the criminal case includes 18 negligent injuring counts and a later local report said 19 people were hurt. That gap matters because it may reflect victims identified later, people treated outside the first hospital count or evolving medical reports as agencies compared records.
The crash struck one of the most visible cultural gatherings in the area. The Louisiana Lao New Year Festival is held in or near Lanxang Village, close to the Buddhist temple Wat Thammarattanaram, and centers on parade processions, traditional food, music, prayer and family reunions during Easter weekend. Organizers told local television that the festival has been part of Iberia Parish life for about 40 years and serves as both a celebration and a way to preserve memory, language and custom. Organizer Kinhdavone Phethmanh said, “What we do is to bring our homeland here to America.” That sense of welcome helps explain why the crash hit so hard. Families were gathered in a place associated with dance, shared meals and prayer, not danger. By Saturday evening, organizers had canceled concerts and other entertainment, and they also stopped alcohol sales. Even so, they said Sunday religious services would continue, a sign that community leaders were trying to preserve part of the holiday while first responders, police and hospitals handled the hardest work.
The legal case moved almost as fast as the medical response, but many steps remain unresolved. Troopers announced the charges Saturday night, only hours after the crash, and said the investigation was still active. They were seeking more video, witness accounts and any other material that could clarify the vehicle’s path, the moments before impact and the final count of victims. Because the charge sheet already includes 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring, prosecutors now face the task of matching each count to documented injuries and determining whether any victim’s condition changes the case. As of Sunday, officials had not publicly outlined a court schedule, identified an attorney for Landry or released a probable cause document describing the driver’s actions in greater detail. The same uncertainty applies to the broader public record. Authorities have not said how fast the vehicle was moving, whether Landry tried to brake or whether any road closures or barriers were in place along that stretch of the parade route when the vehicle entered the crowd.
By Sunday, the scene had shifted from chaos to grief, worry and guarded resolve. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said, “Sharon and I are praying for all those affected,” while thanking first responders for their work. Festival organizers said they were “profoundly saddened” and focused on the people who were hurt. In a later local interview, organizer Phanat Xanamane said the group had already started rethinking safety for future events, even as members of the Lao community tried to keep the weekend from being defined only by the crash. Phethmanh urged people to hold onto the spirit of the celebration, saying, “Turn that anger to love.” Around the festival grounds, that tension was visible in the details described by reporters and captured on video: people standing in small groups near taped-off areas, checking phones for hospital updates, watching emergency crews finish their work and trying to reconcile a familiar holiday route with what had just happened there. The parade path had become a crime scene, but not yet a finished story.
By Sunday night, Landry was in jail, the investigation was still active and organizers were weighing new safety measures after pared-back weekend observances. The next milestone is a fuller public accounting of the injured and the first court steps in Iberia Parish, which are expected to shape how the case proceeds this week.
Author note: Last updated April 5, 2026.