- A Catawba County Sheriff’s deputy is under investigation after he crashed into several cars.
- The deputy was not using emergency lights or sirens while barreling around a blind corner.
- Fortunately, no one else was injured, but the incident raises serious questions about protocol.
What began as a routine day for Catawba County deputies quickly escalated into chaos. Responding to a hang-up call, a deputy and another unit sped toward the scene. However, as they rounded the corner at the intersection of Sherrills Ford Road and East Bandys Cross Road, the deputy lost control, crashing into several vehicles along the way. Miraculously, no one was injured in the incident.
The accident happened at around 4:30 p.m. on September 15th and authorities admit that the officers in question weren’t using their emergency equipment like lights and sirens. That little detail becomes even more important when you consider they were both flying down the road at a high rate of speed, barreling into a fairly blind corner.
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Video from WNCT shows the moment when things went sideways. Traffic from a Dollar General store is turning onto the road just before the crash. Two vehicles make it into the oncoming lane but not without a near miss by the first Catawba police SUV. Then, as a Dodge pickup truck begins to pull out onto the road, the deputy at the center of this story blitzes around the corner.
At his rate of speed, he can’t do anything but swerve into oncoming lanes and then over them. He barely misses a telephone pole before slamming into the back of a Nissan truck. From there he continues into the parking lot of a fuel station and hits a Saturn Outlook and a Toyota RAV4.
One local put the blame squarely on the officers for traveling so fast. “If it were you need to go that fast, you need to at least have sirens and lights something to show everyone around you what’s happening. Because people are distracted and they don’t pay attention,” said Amanda Wright, a person who lives across the street from where the crash happened.
The deputy will now face whatever consequences come from an investigation by the NC State Highway Patrol.