THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
As he rose from the seat where he watched the Pepsi 400 stock-car race Saturday afternoon, Larry Brown saw pieces of wood fly past his kitchen window. The sight accompanied the sound of metal hitting metal.
Brown threw on a shirt and ran outside his house to find a gap in his wooden fence and a crumpled car sitting on his front lawn.
A crying 4-year-old boy and three men were pinned under the weight of a lamp post, which had fallen on top of the four-door Subaru.
The boy's leg was trapped in the metal of a back door, and the driver was bleeding.
As Brown frantically hosed down the car and the area under the leaking gas tank, passers-by and nearby emergency units gathered at the corner of Quarter Way and Lynnhaven Parkway to set the car's occupants free.
The driver, Corey L. Jones, 17, of the 1300 block of Fundy Court was airlifted from the scene by Sentara Nightingale air ambulance. He was admitted to the burn trauma unit of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition Saturday night.
The boy, Michael D. Jones of the 4900 block of Grazing Court, was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He was later transferred to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, where he was listed in stable condition.
The other two passengers - Joshua A. Griffin, 17, of the 4500 block of Riviera Drive and Jerome Arnold, 17, of the 3900 block of Sunstream Parkway - were taken to Virginia Beach General Hospital. Arnold was in critical condition and undergoing surgery Saturday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. Griffin was listed in good condition.
Police spokesman Lou Thurston said only Michael Jones was wearing a full seatbelt. Corey Jones and Arnold were wearing only the shoulder portion, and Griffin was wearing no seatbelt, he said.
``At least a dozen people were around the scene,'' said Brown, 44. ``Most of them were trying to move debris out of the street. Everyone was helpful, running to their cars to get cloths and towels.''
Police said the car was apparently speeding over the 45-mph limit when it veered right off the two-lane road into Brown's fence at 1:45 p.m.
``That fence has been attacked four times,'' said Brown, who lives across the street from Salem Middle School. He recently repaired the fence in April after another vehicle crashed into it earlier this year.
There was no indication that alcohol was involved, although the accident is under investigation. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
L. TODD SPENCER
A four-door Subaru veered off a two-lane road and through a wood
fence in Virginia Beach on Saturday. All four passengers were in the
hospital Saturday night.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC INJURIES by CNB