Paradis man gets five-year prison sentence
The Paradis man who crashed into a crowd of 32 revelers at last year’s Endymion parade was sentenced to five years in prison, but one of his victims believes that the driver feels remorse for the crime.
Otto Candies IV, of Des Allemands, was in the crowd that day and found himself pinned under the truck of Neilson Rizzuto, of Paradis.
“Looking back, yes, he made a bad mistake, but everybody makes mistakes in life,” Candies said. “The one he made just happened to be a lot worse than some other people make.”
The 20-year-old’s physical injuries were minor, but certainly traumatic. He was in the parade crowd at North Carrollton and Orleans avenues on Feb. 25 when he heard a crash and saw headlights approaching. He was pushed from one end of the neutral ground to the other and ended up pinned under the truck still hearing the engine revving.
On Friday, Rizzuto, 25, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of 11 felony counts of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring and 14 misdemeanor counts of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring. He also must attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Mothers Against Drunk Driving meetings until his release from prison.
While some of the victims at the hearing disputed his sentence, Candies felt it was fair. But he also readily clarified his injuries were minor compared to others there when Rizzuto, with a blood alcohol level of .232 (three times above the legal limit), slammed into the crowd.
Rizzuto stated he was sorry and wished he could change what happened that day.
The judge ordered he write apology letters to the victims.
Although Candies didn’t attend the hearing, he said if he gets a letter he would appreciate it because “it was a freak accident and it did put a damper on Mardi Gras for me. But I feel he pretty much knows what happened. It’s bad enough for everybody involved.”
Candies said he’s glad this is over.
“I hope when he is done serving his sentence, he can hopefully do something productive with his life,” he said of Rizzuto. “I think everybody deserves a second chance in life and when he gets out, hopefully he’ll get one.”
This is awesome, I wish more people were like this in the world. It would def make the world a more peaceful place. This was a huge mistake and it could have been worse. I really hope and pray the same thing that when this young man gets out that he does something with his life.