Police: Motorcyclist killed in lower St. Martin crash Friday

Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, troopers responded to a two-vehicle fatality crash on La. 70 near Church Street in lower St. Martin Parish that left a Pierre Part man dead, according to a state police news release.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Tressi Coupel, 27, of Pierre Part was operating a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado west on La. 70 in a slight right curve. Coupel began to make a left turn into a private drive, straight into the path of a 2013 Suzuki GSXR Motorcycle, traveling east on La. 70, the release stated. The driver of the Suzuki, Blake Melancon, 26, of Pierre Part, applied the brakes on the motorcycle, but was unable to avoid impact and struck the right side of Coupel’s vehicle, police said.
Coupel was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and was not injured. Melancon was wearing a Department of Transportation approved helmet, but suffered critical injuries, police said. Melancon was transported by Air-Med to Our Lady of Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge where he later died, police said.
Impairment is not suspected to be a contributing factor in the crash, but police obtained toxicology samples from Melancon and submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Coupel was given a chemical breath test and found not to be impaired, police said.
Coupel was cited with failure to yield and further charges could be filed at a later date, police said. The crash remains under investigation.