DATE: Monday, September 1, 1997             TAG: 9709010095

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C.                      LENGTH:   38 lines

CHARLOTTE TRUCK DRIVER CHARGED IN FATAL CRASH ON I-85 IN N.C.

A Charlotte truck driver faces three misdemeanor charges of death by vehicle in connection with an 11-vehicle pileup last month on Interstate 85.

James Edward Parsons received three citations from Durham police officer Steve Campbell, who met Parsons at a lawyer's office Friday. A court appearance is set for Oct. 15 in Durham County.

Parsons drove a tractor-trailer at the end of the chain collision on a bridge. His truck rammed a car carrying a Portsmouth family on their way home from a trip to an amusement park.

Only the driver, Kenneth Lee Pearson, survived with minor injuries. The rest of the family - Lavoris Pearson, and the couple's daughters Shaniece, 7, and Shavonne, 5 - died at the scene.

Campbell said in a statement Friday that he also will charge Robert Wohlust of Tryon with reckless driving and Jose Duran of Rockville, Md., with failing to slow down to avoid an accident.

Police have said Wohlust started the chain reaction when he struck a guard rail near the entrance of the bridge and lost control of his car. Duran was driving a van carrying his wife and three children in front of the Pearsons' car, Durham Police Sgt. Jodie Piatt said.

That will bring to four the number of drivers charged.

On the day after the wreck, police charged Vincent Fennell of Early Branch, S.C., with failing to slow down to avoid an accident. Fennell drove a tractor-trailer that struck two passenger cars. No one in that part of the accident was seriously injured. More charges may be filed, officers said, but only where there was a severe impact.

Seven people were injured in the accident, which occurred in a construction work zone. Police have said speed was a factor. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITIES ARREST RECKLESS

DRIVING

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