ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605310058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON AND RICHARD FOSTER
The executive chef of the Bernard's Landing Restaurant at Smith Mountain Lake was killed early Thursday when the car he was driving hit a state police cruiser head-on in Franklin County.
Victor Howard Wilcox, 41, of Moneta died at 1:59 a.m. at the scene of the accident, near the entrance to the Waterfront subdivision on Virginia 616, said Sgt. Bobby Ratliff of the Virginia State Police.
Wilcox's pickup dropped off the right shoulder of the road, and Wilcox apparently overcorrected as he tried to regain control. His truck veered into the oncoming lane and struck a patrol car being driven by state Trooper J.K. Johnson.
Wilcox, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from his vehicle, Ratliff said.
Johnson was treated at Franklin Memorial Hospital Thursday morning and released. Johnson slowed his patrol car and maneuvered it as far out of the way as possible before the impact, Ratliff said.
Thursday's traffic fatality is the eighth in Franklin County in 90 days, said Bob Strickler, a captain with the county Sheriff's Office.
All but one of the accidents involved alcohol, with the cause of Thursday's crash still undetermined.
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB