
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994                   TAG: 9406210073
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TEEN DRIVER WHO DIED APPARENTLY FELL ASLEEP

Speeding was apparently not the only factor in a Monday morning crash that killed a Baltimore youth and seriously injured his passenger, the investigating officer says.

State Trooper Robert Carpentieri said Nelson Lafayette "Zak" Sutton IV, 16, and William Baker, 15, ran off U.S. 220 in Botetourt County and struck several trees sometime after 1 a.m. Carpentieri said Sutton apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his pickup truck, possibly as the result of other factors the trooper did not specify. Carpentieri said he is waiting for the results of blood tests.

The posted speed limit in the area of the crash is 45. Carpentieri said the truck's speedometer was stuck at 65, and Sutton had not applied the brakes.

He said Sutton probably died instantly of massive head injuries. Baker was in serious condition Tuesday evening in the neuro-intensive care at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

The two had left Sutton's uncle's house in Roanoke around 1 a.m. A passer-by reported the accident at 6:20 a.m. Sutton's body was trapped in the truck. Rescue workers told Carpentieri he had been dead several hours.

Baker was found in the bed of the truck.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB