Local News - January 2003

Victim airlifted after truck flips

Injuries also reported in earlier wrecks

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

January 1, 2003 - One person was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center after his truck flipped and landed upside down in a front yard Tuesday.

Both the driver and the passenger were transported to Lincoln Medical Center, and one was flown to CMC.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol has not released the names of the two males yet.

The truck landed in the yard of Ronnie Newton, 3034 Brady Hoffman Road, at around 3:40 p.m.

Newton and other members of his family were inside when the crash occurred.

“I just stepped through the house, and I heard a loud racket, and I saw a tire going through the yard,” Newton said.

Jesse Turner, 18, said he was driving on Brady Hoffman Road toward Business 321 when the truck attempted to pass him, he said.

Turner said the truck clipped the front of his truck and jerked to the side.

“They went sliding across the road,” Turner said. “I looked back through my mirror, and they were flipping. I looked and (he) was flying through the air.”

One person was ejected from the truck.

Troopers’ official investigation reports were not available at presstime.

People came out of their houses and gathered at Newton’s home after the wreck. Shoes and other items laid scattered in the grass. Parts of the truck had ended up on the other side of the yard.

“I didn’t know what in the world it was,” one witness said.

She heard a noise and then, like Newton, saw a tire rolling through the yard.

In separate incidents:

·  A three-car wreck Monday afternoon in Lincolnton sent four people to the hospital with injuries.

Police said a 1997 Honda driven by Susan Friend Hurley, 51, 5938 Crescent Drive, made a left turn off Abernathy Street onto Main Street.

Andrea Castro Calvo, 24, 2138 Bost St., driving a 1996 Honda was traveling east on Main Street.

Calvo, who was in the left lane, merged into the right lane to avoid Hurley. Hurley also pulled into the right lane, striking Calvo’s car.

Calvo’s vehicle spun across the yellow line into oncoming traffic.

The car collided with a 1984 Chevrolet, driven by August Lynn Skipper, 23, 905 Lyndsey Brook Court.

Calvo and Skipper were injured in the accident. A passenger in Calvo’s car, 10-year-old Mitzy Acon, and a passenger in Skipper’s car, 1-year-old Cassie Carpenter, were also injured.

Calvo, Acon, Skipper and Carpenter were all transported to Lincoln Medical Center.

Police said Skipper suffered a broken foot, and Acon had a broken ankle.

Hurley, who was not injured in the wreck, is charged with unsafe movement.

After the crash, car parts were scattered all over the road. The wreck tied up traffic on Main Street while police and emergency personnel cleared the scene.

There was $500 damage to Hurley’s car, $6,500 damage to Calvo’s car, and $5,500 damage to Skipper’s car.

·  A wreck Sunday evening sent two people to the hospital.

Raul Vargas Aparicio, 34, 3008 Livingstone Trail, is charged with failure to stop at a stop sign in connection with the incident.

According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Aparicio was traveling east on Shuford Road. There were two passengers in Aparicio’s vehicle.

Troopers said Aparicio ran a stop sign and pulled out in front of two cars.

The cars, driven by Hazel Barnhill, 71, 308 Green St., and Malcolm Ivey, 70, 2334 Brevard Place Road, were unable to stop.

Barnhill was traveling south on Buffalo Shoals, and Ivey was going north.

When Aparicio pulled out, both cars struck his vehicle. The vehicles came to rest in the intersection.

Barnhill and Ivey were taken to Frye Regional Medical Center and have since been discharged.

Aparicio and his passengers refused treatment at the scene.

Troopers said alcohol was not a factor in the wreck.

·  There were no serious or fatal wrecks on New Year’s Eve, troopers said today.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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