Two killed in fiery crash
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on February 24, 2008 2:30 AM
The Highway Patrol suspects alcohol and speeding were a factor in a fiery early Saturday morning crash that killed two young Wayne men.
Grant Williams, 20, Spring Street and Jonathan Peedin, 18, Mint Court, died on Rosewood Road after their Ford sport utility vehicle struck a culvert off the right side of the road, Patrol Sgt. Jerry Burton said.
Williams, who was driving, was a recent graduate of Charles B. Aycock High School, sources who knew both men said. Peedin was a graduate of Rosewood High School.
Trooper C.T. Williams investigated the crash and reported Saturday that he believed both men had been drinking before the 3 a.m. accident, Burton said.
Williams and Peeden had been at Camron's Clubhouse & Grill on Ash Street earlier, the sergeant said.
They later dropped off a friend who lived on Rosewood Road.
They were traveling at about 65 mph in a 45 mph zone when the accident happened, Burton said.
The friend came back to the scene of the accident after the wreck and provided investigating highway patrolmen with additional information about the events leading up to the accident, the sergeant said.
Burton said the 1997 Ford SUV "ran off the road to the right, struck a driveway culvert and overturned several times" before coming to rest upside down.
The vehicle caught fire and both men were badly burned, the sergeant said.