Published: October 09, 2008 11:10 pm         

Crash pushes car over wall, onto rail trail

Family of five injured

A family of five was taken to a hospital Thursday night after a tow truck struck a car in the rear, sending it crashing over a retaining wall, Beckley police said.

Amos Parsons, 32, of 202 Carter St., Beckley, was driving an older model Ford Crown Victoria north on Robert C. Byrd Drive and was stopped in traffic near the Neville Street intersection when a northbound 1998 International rollback tow truck driven by John Meadows, 54, of Glen Daniel, struck the Ford in the rear, Patrolman Jamie Blume said.

The Ford crashed into an older model Mitsubishi pickup truck, Blume said. For unknown reasons, the pickup driver fled the scene.

Parsons’ car then crashed through a guardrail and nose-dived down a 15-foot retaining wall, Blume said. The car landed on Rails-to-Trails near the old Third Avenue Greyhound bus station. The Ford did a complete rollover, then landed on all four wheels.

Blume said he was patrolling Rails-to-Trails just before the accident and actually saw the rollover. Parsons, his 31-year-old wife Angel and their 15-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son and 3-year-old niece were all inside and the car was smoking. Both Blume and a group of bystanders got all five family members out of and away from the car.

All five inside the Crown Victoria were taken to Raleigh General Hospital, Blume said. Amos Parsons’ right collarbone was broken in two places. The 10-year-old boy had either a sprained or broken shoulder. The 3-year-old girl had a head injury, but she was treated and released. Angel Parsons and the 15-year-old girl were not badly hurt.

Meadows was cited for failure to maintain control, Blume said. Blume believed speed was a factor in the accident.

Blume noted all five people in the Crown Victoria were wearing seatbelts, and the 3-year-old was in a child safety seat.

“I believe that’s definitely the main reason why this had a relatively good outcome,” he said.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com