Underage driver arrested after wreck injures man

Published 12:03 am Monday, June 4, 2012

LAUREN WOOD/THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Paramedics care for Joseph Williams III at the scene of a motorcycle and car accident as family and friends stand nearby at the intersection of Lynda Lee Drive and Old Washington Road around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. Williams was treated and released from the hospital.

NATCHEZ — A local motorcyclist was briefly hospitalized late Saturday night after a 14-year-old unlicensed driver pulled a vehicle out in front of him.

Joseph Williams III, 19, was traveling northbound on Lynda Lee Drive toward Old Washington Road on an orange 2003 Suzuki 650 motorcycle at approximately 10:30 p.m. when a blue 2007 Nissan Altima attempting to make a left turn onto Old Washington Road toward Holiday Apartments turned into the motorcycle’s lane, Natchez Police Sgt. Vinte Bates said.

LAUREN WOOD/THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Onlookers walk past the motorcycle damage in the accident.

Williams was taken from the scene by Metro Ambulance Service, and was later air evacuated to Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, La. He has since been treated and has returned home, Bates said.

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The driver of the Altima was a 14-year-old juvenile who was arrested and booked into the city jail before being released to his mother, Bates said.

The juvenile was issued a citation for driving without a license, and his mother was cited for allowing an unlicensed driver to drive the vehicle.

The mother was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident, Bates said. Three other juveniles, who were not arrested, were in the car.

Bates said Williams will also receive two citations, one for no insurance and a second because he does not have a motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license.