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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 2, 1994                   TAG: 9411020075
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEEN DIES WHILE CHECKING ON CRASH

A Franklin County High School student was killed Monday night when he attempted to check on the victims of an accident and was struck three times by cars on U.S. 220, according to the state police.

Ishan R. Washington, 17, of Rocky Mount died at the scene of the five-car collision. He was the son of George Washington, assistant principal at the high school.

Ishan Washington was the 16th person killed on Franklin County roads since January.

State Trooper L.W. Turner, who responded to Monday night's accident, said the number of traffic fatalities in Franklin County this year is alarming.

Turner said he was the only trooper patrolling the 700-square-mile county Sunday and Monday nights, a common occurrence due to a lack of manpower.

"It's a problem," he said.

Washington was riding in a car driven by a friend, Antuan L. Muse, 18, of Rocky Mount, also a Franklin County High student. In heavy fog, Muse rear-ended a car on U.S. 220 just north of Dudley's Truck Stop Restaurant near Rocky Mount about 10 p.m., according to Turner.

Muse and Washington got out of their car - which came to rest without its headlights on in the middle of the southbound lane of U.S. 220 - and were walking to the car Muse hit. Washington then was struck by a third vehicle, driven by Melvin L. Camden, 24, of Ferrum, Turner said.

Muse went to help Washington and both were hit by a fourth car, operated by Peggy J. Clark, 41, of Martinsville.

At that point, a fifth car - driven by Dale A. Overstreet, 26, of Rocky Mount - struck Muse's vehicle, which was pushed back into the two teen-agers, Turner said.

Muse was listed in stable condition Tuesday night at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Five others, including the driver and passenger in the car that Muse struck - Germaine and Eric Mommerency of Ferrum - were treated for injuries and released, Turner said.

Alcohol was not a factor in the multiple-car accident, he said. Thick, patchy fog is believed to have caused the wreck, Turner said.

Capt. Robert Strickler of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said the number of traffic deaths in the county this year is a major concern and all preventive options are being explored.

The fatalities have happened on many different roads, involving people of various ages. In most, alcohol wasn't a factor.

"If there is a common tie to any of them, we want to find it," Strickler said.

Keywords:
FATALITY\ NOTE: THIS STORY RAN ON PAGE C5 IN THE METRO EDITION.

by CNB