Four injured in collision on N.C. 111
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on May 19, 2006 1:49 PM
Four people were injured Thursday when a child-care van and pickup truck collided on N.C. 111 near its intersection with Bill Lane Road.
Wayne County Sheriff's Sgt. Sherwood Daly said he had been assisting a Highway patrolman with a routine traffic stop at around 3 p.m. when he heard the wreck happen less than a quarter of a mile away.
"After he cleared his traffic stop, we were talking for a few minutes and all of a sudden it sounded like a bomb went off," he said. "It was the loudest explosion I've ever heard -- no brakes, no squealing or anything."
Daly said hearing the noise prompted him to look down the road.
"Just as soon as I looked up, they had already hit," he said. "In fact, when I first saw it, both vehicles were still moving."
Shortly after the wreck, first-responders reached the scene -- officials from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Wayne County Sheriff's Department, El-Roy Volunteer Fire Department and Wayne County EMS.
While some tended to the driver of the truck and the children being transported in the van, others attempted to free the driver of the van from the vehicle.
State Highway Patrolman Mike Anderson said all injured parties were conscious and talking before they left the scene.
Bobby Ray Jones, 61, of Kinston was charged with driving left of center after the wreck.
Trooper Michael Anderson said Jones' eastbound Dodge pickup had collided with a westbound 2003 Chevrolet van from We Are the World Child Care on Durham Lake Road.
The driver of the van, Leticia Nicole Reid, 23, of Banks Avenue, and her passengers, Mary Anne J. McNair, 44, of South Slocumb Street and Derrick Timothy Hartley, 9, of Sunny Slope Road, Dudley, were taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital along with Jones.
Reid and Hartley were treated and released. McNair was listed in intensive care. Jones was listed in good condition.
Both vehicles, valued at $10,000 each, were total losses, Anderson said.