One dead in weekend I-269 crash

On Monday afternoon, Oct. 2, the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department was able to release details of a fatal traffic accident that took place late Friday night, Sept. 29.  

The crash took place about 11 p.m. Friday on I-269 west of Craft Road at Camp Creek. A vehicle crashed on the bridge over the creek and one of the occupants jumped out of the car and off the bridge into the creek.  

When deputies arrived and spoke with the driver and a passenger, they learned another person in the back seat of the vehicle reportedly grabbed the steering wheel and started hitting the driver, an action that caused the vehicle to strike into the wall of the bridge.  

According to information released Monday, the back seat passenger left the vehicle after the crash and ran down the interstate, jumped into the bed of a truck that had stopped to help, then jumped out of the truck, over the wall of the bridge and landed into the creek.  

The person was recovered from the creek, airlifted to Regional One Health by helicopter but died from injuries that were sustained.  

The Mississippi Highway Patrol assisted but Saturday referred questions about the accident to the Sheriff’s Department, which continues to investigate the accident.  The victim was identified only as a 41-year-old man from Poplar Grove, Arkansas, but a name was not released. The Sheriff’s Department also did not release names of the other people involved.

The interstate was closed to eastbound traffic west of Craft Road at 11:15 p.m. Friday night and both directions were closed about 20 minutes later. The westbound lanes of the interstate were reopened about 12:35 a.m. Saturday morning. The eastbound lanes of the interstate were then reopened about 40 minutes later,