T. J. ROYAL
A Pitt County man was charged with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving Sunday after he wrecked a rental car near Macclesfield that went airborne and caught on fire.
Jeffery Dwayne Shrock, 39, of Grimesland, wrecked a 2009 Saturn sport utility vehicle on Sharp Point Road east of Macclesfield around 3 p.m. Sunday, N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper K.S. Howell said.
Howell reported that Shrock was heading south on Sharp Point Road, going around 70 mph in a 55 mph speed zone when he crossed the center line, ran off the left side of the roadway and hit a mailbox. His vehicle then struck a small tree, hit a ditch and went airborne, with part of the car catching on fire, she said.
The vehicle was not fully engulfed, Howell said, and bystanders helped pull Shrock out of the vehicle. Only one vehicle was involved in the accident, she said.
After Shrock was taken to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville for a reported injury, Howell said "it was obvious he was impaired by alcohol," but that blood test results are pending.
She said his injuries were not considered life-threatening. Shrock has been released from the hospital.
