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Wilkes man dies in crash on N.C. 16
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Published: October 5, 2009
WILKESBORO – A Wilkes County man was killed in a crash Saturday night on N.C. 16 when he lost control of his pickup truck after passing another vehicle in a no-passing zone.
The crash happened about 5 ½ miles north of Wilkesboro, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Benjamin Gray Hutchens, 24, of Roaring River, who was driving a 1996 Toyota pickup truck, died at the scene. A passenger, Ashley Lynn Johnson, 21, of Bass, was airlifted to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. She was listed there today in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Larry Thomas Walker, Jr., 23, of Millers Creek, driver of a 1998 Chrysler, was taken to Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
The accident happened at around 10:35 p.m. after Hutchens lost control when he was traveling south on N.C. 16 and passed another vehicle at an estimated 70 mph in a no-passing zone approaching a curve, according to a report by Trooper J.D. Berrong.
Berrong said that when Hutchens' pickup swerved back to the proper lane, the truck went off the road to the right, hit an embankment, flipped several times, slid on its top across the centerline and into the path of Walker's car. No charges were filed against Walker.
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