bond set on DUI suspect|[01/04/07]

Bond was set at $400,000 Wednesday for a Hermanville man accused of running over four teenagers who were shooting fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

Carl V. Cisero, 31, 2093 Johnson Road, was arrested about 11:30 p.m. after hitting two parked cars and the teenagers in the 200 block of Greenbriar Drive.

Two of the injured – Carlos Brooks, 15, 415 Haas St., and Elijah S. Griffin, 14, 4806 Halls Ferry Road – remained hospitalized. Brooks was in good condition at River Region Medical Center this morning, and Griffin was in fair condition Wednesday at Lebonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis.

Cisero was charged with two counts of aggravated felony DUI, and Warren County Judge Johnny Price set bond at $200,000 on each count because of the &#8220life-threatening situation.”

The two others injured, Maya Garnett, 14, 227 Greenbriar Drive, and Whitney Burnette, 19, 231 Greenbriar Drive, were treated at River Region and released.

Detective Jeff Crevitt of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department told Price that Cisero was standing near his 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix when deputies arrived and, according to witnesses, was spraying himself and his car with cologne to mask the odor of alcohol.

Sheriff Martin Pace said Cisero was headed south on Greenbriar when he hit a Ford van and Ford truck and the victims. Pace blamed the crash on speed and alcohol.

Cisero sat quietly in the courtroom before the hearing, holding his head in his hands. He was not represented by an attorney Wednesday and said little during his initial court appearance, acknowledging only that he understood the charges against him. Cisero is entitled to a bond-reduction hearing, Price said.

Eighty-two DUI cases were investigated in Warren County outside the Vicksburg city limits in 2006. Arrests were made in all of them. Ninety-six were reported the previous year, and all resulted in arrests.