NEW ORLEANS -- A judge said Sunday if the man accused of plowing down a crowd at the Endymion parade makes bond, he'll be put on house arrest and not allowed to drive.
Neilson Rizzuto's bond was set at $125,000. The 25-year-old is facing two counts of vehicular negligent injuring, one count of hit and run driving causing death or serious injury, and one count of reckless operation of a motor vehicle. The judge added he expects more charges to come down from the New Orleans Police Department.
Rizzuto did not speak during his bond hearing and was represented by a public defender.
A day after the accident, those who were there to witness this tragedy are still trying to process what happened
“I didn’t know what to think, it was like a movie almost, I just didn’t know what to think,” said Anthony Hargis.
Anthony Hargis was nearby with his family.
“We were on the parade route everything was all good and the next thing you know we hear a big boom and I turned around," he said. "He’s running through the crowd, running through people like nobody’s there. I see the white car run into the pole. Everybody’s screaming dropping to the ground it was just crazy.”
Police said Rizzuto was behind the wheel of a truck with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he went barreling through a crowd of Endymion parade goers.
“He was just kind of out of it," said Kourtney McGinnis. "He was just driving like he was maneuvering through traffic. He was just gone like he wasn’t about to hit people.”
In total 32 people were hit, 21 of which were taken to seven area hospitals. Sunday, two of those victims remain in the hospital, one in critical condition with a lacerated liver.