White woman seriously injured after angry racist runs her down with his truck for dating a black man
The incident occurred about 9 p.m. Tuesday (April 16) in the parking lot of Birdies service station, 3738 Airline Drive, Metairie, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The couple told deputies they were walking to the store when they spotted James Descant, 50, a man with whom they’d had an earlier run-in, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the department.
The 32-year-old male victim, who is black, said Descant threatened to kill him a week earlier because the victim’s girlfriend is white, according to the sheriff’s office. Descant, who has “disdain” for interracial relationships, also used a racial slur to describe her involvement with a black man, the sheriff’s office report said.
As the couple stood in front of Birdies Tuesday night, Descant is accused of swerving left in an attempt to hit them, authorities said. The man managed to jump out of the way.
But the truck hit the woman, 31, injuring her right hip, right wrist and left foot, according to the sheriff’s office. She was taken to Ochsner Medical Center in Old Jefferson where doctors also determined the woman suffered a broken foot, the report said.
The man said he did nothing to provoke Descant. The man told deputies he believed Descant acted because of hatred for the couple’s relationship, according to authorities. Descant is also accused of slamming into $500 worth of bottled water cases that were in front of the convenience store.
Deputies arrested Descant about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at a motel in the 3500 block of Airline Drive in Metairie.
He was booked with aggravated second-degree battery, aggravated assault, hate crimes, simple criminal damage to property and being a fugitive from Kenner police.
Descant was being held Friday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of a $101,000 bond on the charges related to the incident. But he was being held without bond on the fugitive charge.
