Tuesday, January 23, 1996
NATIONAL Page A1 HIT-RUN SUSPECT TO TURN
SELF IN
POLICE SEIZE JEEP AT BODY SHOP
By PETULA DVORAK and WALT PHILBIN
Staff writers
A man involved in the hit-and-run accident which
killed a Tulane University police officer Saturday
will turn himself in to police this morning, his
attorney said.
Attorney Jeffrey Smith would not identify his client,
nor would he say whether he was the driver. Witnesses
said two men were in the speeding vehicle when it
struck Sgt. Gilbert Mast. Although investigators
suspected that a Tulane student was behind the wheel,
Smith would not say whether his client is a student.
The break in the case came Monday afternoon when
police, searching for a gray Jeep Cherokee, found it
in a Kenner body shop. The Jeep had no license plate
and had extensive damage to its front and windshield.
Smith said he told police the location of the vehicle
Monday, but police would not confirm that.
The lawyer said he had planned to turn his client in
to police Monday night, but backed off because he
couldn't get assurances that his client would get an
immediate bond hearing.
Police did not have enough evidence to arrest his
client, he said.
Mast, 42, and his partner, Don Dorsey, had pulled over
a vehicle on a routine traffic stop Saturday about
4:30 a.m. when they heard the roar of a speeding car
approaching.
Mast stepped into the street and tried to signal for
the Jeep speeding down McAlister Drive to slow down,
police said. But the driver instead sped up, veered
and slammed into a parked car before careening into
Mast, who was dragged more than 40 feet, police said.
The driver turned right on Willow Street and, along
with a passenger, got away. Mast was pronounced dead a
short time later at Charity Hospital. He was the first
Tulane officer to die in the line of duty.
Police estimate the car was going at least 20 mph over
the narrow street's 15 mph limit.
Tulane officials spent the past few days going through
parking permit registration files and tickets issued
on campus to try to link the Jeep to an owner.
