WWL-TV, New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Police say a man accused of plowing a pickup into a Mardi Gras crowd late Saturday, injuring 32 people, had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit.

Neilson Rizzuto, 25, of Paradis, La., was booked into the Orleans Justice Center jail Sunday on two counts of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring, one count of hit-and-run driving causing serious injury and one count of reckless operation of a vehicle. More charges could be pending.

Those injured Saturday were watching the Krewe of Endymion parade, one of Mardi Gras’ biggest spectacles, when Rizzuto’s Chevrolet pickup apparently revved its engine and sped forward, slamming into a couple of cars and then careening back out of control into a crowd and eventually into a dump truck.

Dozens injured after vehicle runs into crowd of paradegoers in New Orleans

Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the (New Orleans) Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done.

"He was just kind of out of it," she said.

Rizzuto's blood alcohol level was .232 percent at 8:36 p.m., nearly 2 hours after the accident, the Advocate said based on the breathalyzer results. Louisiana's legal blood alcohol limit is 0.08.

During a press conference Saturday night, police superintendent Michael Harrison said five people were taken to the trauma center and seven people declined medical attention.

The victims range in ages from 1-year-old to about 50. One of the victims was a female police officer who was working the parade.

Under the initial allegations, Rizzuto could face up to 10 years if convicted of the felony hit-and-run, up to five years on each felony count of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring, and up to 90 days on the misdemeanor count of reckless driving, the Times-Picayune reported.

The accident came Saturday during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of New Orleans to watch the elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders. The Krewe of Endymion is known both for its long floats and the big party it hosts at the Superdome after the parade, the Associated Press reported.