Two Charged For Operating Motorcycles At High Speeds

Ranger Michael Callais was on patrol in the Barataria Preserve unit on the evening of November 17th when he saw two motorcycles approaching him at a very high rate of speed in a posted 45 mph zone. Callais clocked the first bike at 97 mph and the second at 93 mph. When he turned on his lights and siren, both operators accelerated and continued northbound through the park. Officers from other jurisdictions responded to assist, but the motorcycles were soon out of the ranger’s sight. As Callais was returning to the park, he came upon a crashed motorcycle in a ditch with a person down on the ground next to the bike. Callais recognized this bike as one of the two that had fled from him. The badly injured operator was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Investigating rangers determined that he’d lost control of his motorcycle, which had then gone off the road and struck a telephone pole. The operator gave Callais the name of the other motorcyclist, and rangers subsequently found and contacted him. He made a full confession, admitting to fleeing from the ranger. Numerous federal charges were filed against the two men. This was the fourth incident in the past month in which rangers have clocked motorists in the park traveling at greater than 90 mph.