A violent wreck Friday ripped apart a car, leaving a crack in the bridge, the car in a creek and a woman in the hospital.
The day before her 22nd birthday, Shaniria Raquel Hardy drove her white Honda Accord north on N.C. 58 when her vehicle went out of control shortly past the Global TransPark. Evidence at the scene suggests the car veered right, striking the concrete sidewall of the 75-year-old Stonyton Creek Bridge.
“Right now, all I know is she said her steering wheel locked up, and basically she just ran off the road,” State Trooper J.D. Noble said.
The left side of the car ripped open as the Accord spun into the creek, partially submerged and faced west. Pieces of the car were flung on both sides of the creek.
Lenoir County EMS transported Hardy, a resident of Winterville, to Lenoir Memorial Hospital with injuries unknown at press time.
The force of the crash also opened the car’s gas tank, which leaked out into the creek. Members of the Hugo Volunteer Fire Department attended to the spill.
“This gasoline, it’ll pretty much evaporate. There’s only so much you can do,” Hugo VFD Deputy Chief Jonas Howard said. “We’ve got it contained, so it’s not a threat to anything. We’re going to remain on the scene until this odor gets out of here. We don’t want someone coming by here and throwing a cigarette out or something like that.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.