On Sunday, August 30, 2026, a normal trip to clean a car took a terrible turn in DeRidder, Louisiana. Jeffery L. Garner, a 62-year-old local resident, was standing outside at a car wash on East 1st Street when a car suddenly drove right off the road and hit him.
It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon in town. People were out running errands, getting their vehicles washed, and prepping for the upcoming workweek. Garner was simply minding his own business in the parking lot when things turned upside down in a split second.

According to reports from the DeRidder Police Department, a vehicle traveling along East 1st Street suddenly lost control. Instead of staying in its lane, the car left the roadway, jumped the curb, and came barreling directly into the private car wash parking lot.
Garner was standing right in the path of the incoming vehicle. With almost no warning or time to jump out of the way, he was struck by the car while standing near the bay area of the business.
Witnesses at the scene quickly called emergency services, and officers from the DeRidder Police Department arrived alongside paramedics. Medical crew members began treating Garner right on the pavement before moving him into an ambulance.
First responders rushed the 62-year-old to a nearby hospital in DeRidder. ER doctors and nurses did everything they could to treat his severe injuries and stabilize him after he arrived.
Despite all efforts by the medical staff, Garner died from his injuries at the hospital shortly after the accident. Local police stayed on East 1st Street into the evening to block off the parking lot and reconstruct how the vehicle ended up off the road.








