Two vehicles involved in airborne wreck

Sept. 21--A speeding car crested a hill at an intersection and went airborne into a convenience store parking lot Tuesday, flying between gas pumps, hitting a van and then a sign on the top of the convenience store. The van's driver was taken to the hospital with an arm injury, but the car's driver somehow escaped serious injury, officials said.

The Lenoir Police Department did not release the names of the drivers.

A Lenoir man was driving east on Main Street approaching Blowing Rock Boulevard about 11:45 a.m. and went through the intersection toward the Holiday To Go on the other side of the highway, Sgt. James Moore of the Lenoir Police Department said. After hitting the bank in front of the gas station, the Camry bounced into the air, began to spin and fly sideways, and its tires left a mark on one of the gas pumps as it passed.

After hitting a van parked at one of the pumps, the Camry bounced up, the back end of the car flying over to hit the Holiday to Go sign on top of the building and then dropped into the brick wall of the building, Battalion Chief Kenny Nelson of the Lenoir Fire Department said. The collision left a noticeable indentation in the brick wall.

When the van was struck, it overturned onto the driver's side and slid. A woman from Morganton in the driver's seat was trapped in the vehicle until rescue workers arrived to break her out through the windshield.

Officer Ty Lee said the woman, who was in her 40s, was taken to Caldwell Memorial Hospital and may have had a broken arm. He added that the Camry's driver, who was around 20 years old, refused medical treatment.

Lee said the Camry's driver told officers he was distracted by a bee at the time the wreck happened. Lee wasn't sure how fast the man was driving, but the man claimed to have been going 50 mph. The road has a speed limit of 45 mph.

Julie Zoller, the owner of Southern Comfort Event Planning in the same building as Holiday to Go, said she was sitting at her desk and looked out the window to see a vehicle airborne and flipping, then heard a "massive" crash. She called 911 and said she could hear the woman who was trapped in the van.

"She was screaming, 'Help me! Help me! Please help me!'" Zoller said.

Witness Zach Hood, who was driving north on Blowing Rock Boulevard when the Camry sped through the intersection, said he would guess the Camry was traveling about 60.

"It was a white flash," he said.

Henry Sutton, who said he was driving ahead of Hood at the time, said he just saw a cloud of dust flying through the air when the Camry went by.

Sutton said that after the vehicles settled on the ground, the man driving the Camry immediately got out of his car.

"He jumped out really quickly," he said. "It looked like he was going to run."

Charges were expected against the man, who does not own the Camry, and may also be filed against the Camry's owner because there was no insurance and the car had a revoked license plate, Lee said.

A building inspector was called to inspect the damage to the building before employees could go back inside.

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