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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995                   TAG: 9507170032
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

CHECK MAN DIES IN I-81 TRUCK WRECK

The wreck was reported at 2:14 a.m. and happened at mile marker 120 of Interstate 81, about two miles from the Christiansburg exit.

Curtis Edward Janney, 45, of Check was driving north in the pickup, pulling a flatbed truck that had two passengers, state police said.

The pickup truck was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by Norman Robbins, 49, of Plymouth, Ind. The pickup and flatbed trucks separated in the collision, with the flatbed hitting an embankment and the pickup flipping over three times, causing Janney to be thrown 52 feet.

The two occupants of the flatbed truck, Valerie Wirt and Donald Whitlock, were taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital. They were in stable condition, a hospital employee said.

Janney and the flatbed passengers were not wearing seat belts, Trooper Joe Diamond said. Robbins' rig received substantial damage, but he was not injured, Diamond said. He was wearing a seat belt.

An accident reconstruction team will visit the wreck site today.

"I've got conflicting stories," Diamond said.

Diamond said Robbins told police that when he came up behind the pickup and flatbed, he tried to pass, but the pickup swerved into the left lane.

Janney died just before 4 a.m. at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was taken by helicopter.

Keywords:
FATALITY