LEONARD GRAY

DESTREHAN - A one-car accident on Ormond Boulevard in Destrehan claimed the lives of two teen-agers, apparently coming home from a night at a Metairie lounge, early Thursday morning. Capt. Patrick Yoes of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office said a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina driven by Brad Hennig, 18, of 111 Acadian Lane, Destrehan, was southbound on Ormond Boulevard when, at 3:38 a.m. near the intersection with Stanton Hall Drive, the car veered off the road to the right, struck a planter box and a tree, then flipped over. Hennig was transported to St. Charles Parish Hospital in Luling where he was pronounced dead. Passenger Lindsey Cerise, 17, of Dianne Place in St. Rose, was transported to Kenner Regional Medical Center where she was also pronounced dead. Passengers Dane Kopcke, 18, and Matthew Swiber, 17, both of St. Rose, were also examined. Swiber was taken to St. Charles Parish Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released, and Kopcke was not injured. Yoes said the passengers were all in the rear seat. An unconfirmed report of another front seat passenger, he continued, had not been substantiated as of Thursday evening. Yoes continued the group was traveling in a car registered to Lisa Smith and Germaine Harmon of 210 Cambridge Drive in LaPlace, and Harmon had loaned the car to Hennig. Earlier in the evening, the group had been at the Swamp Island Lounge in Metairie, Yoes added. Alcohol and speed are considered to be possible factors in the accident's cause. The accident is still under investigation.