Witnesses question drag racing on city street

SELMER, Tenn. -- One day after a drag-racing car careened into a crowd and killed six people, witnesses questioned why the driver was allowed to speed down a multilane highway with no guard rails, lined on both sides by hundreds of spectators.

"It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street," said 19-year-old Garett Moore, who said he was about 15 feet away from the wreck, but was uninjured. "They shouldn't have done it."

Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said Sunday the six killed were in their teens or early 20s. The accident injured at least 18 others, including a 5-year-old boy, who were taken to hospitals in Tennessee and Mississippi.

The crash happened Saturday during an "exhibition burnout" -- when a drag racer spins his tires to make them heat up and smoke -- at the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.Amateur video of the crash, broadcast on WMC-TV in Memphis, showed the car's engine revving loudly before the vehicle sped down a highway. After a few hundred feet, the smoking car skidded off the road in front of a drive-in restaurant.

Authorities identified the driver as pro drag racer Troy Warren Critchley, an Australian who is now based in Wylie, Texas. He suffered minor injuries and was taken by car to a nearby hospital for treatment, authorities said.

There were no criminal charges against Critchley, Browning said.

There was a guard rail along at least part of the highway, but not along the stretch where the crash occurred.

Nick Staples, of Columbus, Miss., said he was standing 20 feet from where the car plowed into the audience."There should have been guard rails," Staples said. "But even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered."

The Highway Patrol said Raven Griswell, 15, of Finger; and Sean Michael Driskill, 22, of Adamsville, died at the scene. Four others -- Brook L. Pope, 20, of Selmer; Scarlett Replogle, 15, of Selmer; Kimberly A. Barfield, 17, of Adamsville; and Nicole Griswell, 19, of Selmer, all died later in area hospitals.

The AMS Pro Modified Series, which sponsors professional drag races, issued a news release saying the driver, a veteran of more than 20 years in drag racing, was performing a burnout when road conditions caused the car to go out of control. The Highway Patrol said it had no information about road conditions.

Moore, the 19-year-old witness, said before the crash there had been a parade of cars -- everything from antique cars to modern dragsters. But he thought the show was over.

"I was about to head across the street, and I saw him barreling toward us."

Other dragsters in the parade had been spinning their tires and then accelerating quickly, but everyone else put on the breaks before going past the guard rails, Moore said.

"This is definitely not the kind of road you should be drag racing on," Moore said, noting that most public roads have an arc, or hump, that lets rain run off more quickly. "This isn't a flat open surface like you have at a race track.

Authorities closed the festival after the crash. About 40,000 to 60,000 people were expected to attend the weekend event.

Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web site.

A statement posted on the Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and their families: "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever. "The charity was formed in 1990, two years after founder Larry Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident. Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web site.

-GoErie.com, Monday June 18th, 2007

Crash kills 1 and leaves another in serious condition

The accident happened about 11 a.m. in Cussewago Township, Crawford County, when Robert Reynolds, 43, of Meadville, was traveling west in his Dodge Stratus on North Mosiertown Road.

Police said he went through a stop sign at the Route 98 intersection and was hit broadside by a Cadillac DeVille driven by Richard Vanberun, 55, also of Meadville.Reynolds was pronounced dead at the scene by Crawford County Coroner Patrick McHenry due to multiple blunt-force trauma.

Reynolds' passenger, Katrina Smith, 45, of Meadville, was flown to Hamot Medical Center, where she was listed in serious condition Sunday night.

Vanberun, his wife, Renata, 26, and 4-year-old son, were treated at Meadville Medical Center for minor injuries.

9 workers sent plunging into water after bridge accident; 1 dead

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) _ A column under construction collapsed on a new bridge Thursday, sending nine workers plunging into the Bay of St. Louis. One worker died and another was missing.


Eight workers were taken to area hospitals following the accident on the U.S. 90 bridge, a two-mile span that was built to replace one that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and partially opened to traffic last month.


Alger Pennamn, 51, of Jackson, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, said Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove. The others were in stable condition, according to hospital officials.Workers were pouring concrete on the north side of the bridge when a column form failed and fell, according to Lisa Siegel, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation."The whole column went into the water," she said.


The Coast Guard dispatched two rescue helicopters and a 25-foot boat to join the search for the missing worker, said Petty Officer Tom Atkeson. Officials suspected the worker was trapped under debris in the water.


The workers involved in the accident were employed by Granite Archer Western, the contractor in charge of building the new bridge. Company spokesman Dan Galvin wouldn't release any additional information about the missing or injured workers.


The $267 million bridge, which connects Bay St. Louis with Pass Christian to the east, is scheduled to be completed in November.


- GoErie.com, Friday, June 15th, 2007