Brandon Bigner

Vehic/Purs

Passenger Sloan McDow and driver Brandon Bigner died after a high speed police chase when their other crashed into an 18-wheeler. The pursuit started just after midnight in Covington when a trooper stopped a Chevrolet Cobalt for going more than 100 mph in a 55 mph zone on US 190 near the intersection of Louisiana 1077. The driver, a 14-year-old boy, was being interviewed outside the car when the front seat passenger, later identified as Bigner, allegedly jumped over the center console into the driver's seat and took off. The trooper put the original driver into his patrol car and radioed for backup. The trooper then followed the speeding Cobalt. Approximately two miles west of the initial traffic stop, the trooper arrived at the scene of the crash. Investigators said the car swerved completely across the eastbound lane of US 190 onto the eastbound shoulder, then overcorrected to the right and into the path of an oncoming 18 wheeler. The front of the 18 wheeler hit the left side of the Cobalt, sending Bigner flying from the car, resulting in severe injuries from which he later died. Sitting in the backseat was Sloan McDow, who died at the scene.