Deputy's cruiser hit by spinning car
By John Joyce
Published in News on October 28, 2015 1:46 PM
A Wayne County sheriff's deputy was not seriously injured Tuesday when a driver on U.S. Highway 70 East lost control of her vehicle and slammed into the back of the marked police car.
The wreck took place at 4:04 p.m.
Officials said Sgt. Ryan Sasser was monitoring traffic in the construction zone where the U.S. 70 Bypass rejoins U.S. 70 at the Wayne/Lenoir county line.
"Our driver was not injured. The other driver was transported to Wayne Memorial (Hospital) with minor injuries," Capt. Steve Mozingo said.
Mozingo said Sasser was working the construction zone and was not in the path of any oncoming traffic at the time of the wreck.
"He was sitting in his vehicle, which was parked out of the travel lane," Mozingo said.
The other driver said she lost control of her vehicle -- a gold, late-model Mercedes -- which spun around a few times and hit the back of the cruiser. The car then came to rest off the roadway, he said.
According to Sasser's report, he was stationary on U.S. 70 East near Piney Grove Church Road running radar when he looked in his rear view mirror and saw a car spinning out of control. He said the car spun completely around five or six times before striking the rear quarter panel of his cruiser.
Sasser braced for impact, but was thrown into the steering wheel. He immediately called for EMS and fire to be dispatched and went to check on the other driver, his report said.
The N.C. Highway Patrol took the official wreck report and is conducting the subsequent investigation. Trooper L.E. Schertzinger said the driver of the car that hit Sasser was identified as Tomika Burch, 38, of Kinston.
Ms. Burch was cited for operating unsafe equipment and for a speed violation.
"The unsafe equipment and speed violation were the contributing factors," Schertzinger said.