A Ball police officer died in a fiery wreck while responding to a call for assistance early Sunday morning, according to The Town Talk.
Officer Russell A. George, 47, was traveling southbound on U.S. 165 around 2:50 a.m. when his 2009 Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser struck a bicycle lying in the inside lane of the highway.
George lost control of his vehicle and begun to spin in a clockwise rotation, traveling off the right side of the road and through a ditch, according to the Louisiana State Police fatality report.
The driver's side of the cruiser struck several trees and caught fire after coming to a rest.
The officer was unable to escape the vehicle and was pronounced dead on the scene.
"Our heart goes out to the family," Ball interim Mayor Roger Toney told the newspaper. "We're doing the best we can for the family and the fellow officers."
