Officer responds quickly after driver crashes on Center St.
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 14, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
First Responders walk around the car of a driver who lost control of the vehicle in the roundabout at N. Center and E. Walnut Streets Wednesday afternoon and ended up on the sidewalk in front of the Laughing Owl. Goldsboro police officer Dakota Toms broke the window of the car with his bare hand so that he could shut off the engine of the car and begin first aid.
Witnesses are lauding the quick thinking of a Goldsboro police officer after the way he responded when a driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree on North Center Street, Wednesday afternoon.
The wreck took place at 3:25 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of North Center and East Walnut streets in front of the downtown fountain.
According to the wreck report, the driver of the vehicle, Charles Phillip Bowles, 27, of Pikeville, was traveling north on North Center Street and went unresponsive after injecting himself with an unknown substance from a syringe.
Bowles then lost control of the vehicle drove up the curb onto the sidewalk, taking out a yield sign and crashing head on into a tree. With his foot stuck on the gas pedal, Bowles' car continued to accelerate and was, in effect climbing up the tree as it gave way under the force and weight of the vehicle.
Goldsboro police officer Dakota Toms happened to be nearby.
Witnesses said the officer used his bare hand to smash through the passenger window of the vehicle while Bowles lie unresponsive inside the locked vehicle. Toms was able to shut off the engine and begin rendering first aid until other officers and the Goldsboro Fire Department and Wayne County EMS arrived.
Parker Croom, owner of the Bad Dog Coffee Works at the corner of Center and Walnut, witnessed the wreck firsthand.
"That officer wasted no time. He just came up saw what was going on and he acted right away," Croom said.
Croom said he was walking back to his shop when he saw the vehicle driving toward him. Inside the car, Bowles was already unresponsive. Croom said he saw the vehicle come through the roundabout, hit the curb, knock over the yield sign and drive up the tree.
"He just came around, and he just went unresponsive," Croom said.
"It was cool to see the police officer respond like that. He didn't care about what happened to him, he was trying to get to the guy," Croom said.
Bowles was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital where he was treated for a drug overdose.
According to the wreck report, he was cited for DWI, failure to maintain lane control, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession.
Several people were in the area at the time of the wreck, and more poured out of the nearby businesses to see what happened.
"It is a good thing no one was crossing the street," Elizabeth Sims. "It could have been a lot worse."