DATE: Sunday, August 31, 1997               TAG: 9708310084

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   46 lines

WOMAN DIES AFTER WRECKS ON CAMPOSTELLA BRIDGE

A woman who had apparently stopped her car on a bridge so she could call for help after witnessing an accident was killed early Saturday when her car was struck, police said.

And a man who may have been driving the car that struck hers was seriously injured when he jumped off the Campostella Bridge, police said.

But rather than landing in the Elizabeth River, he slammed into the ground 15 feet below.

The accidents happened within moments of each other, about 12:45 a.m. on the bridge near Kimball Terrace. Eastbound lanes of the bridge were closed for more than four hours while investigators tried to figure out what had happened.

Larry Hill, a police spokesman, said the first accident happened when a single car heading west hit a wall near the end of the bridge, slid up a signpost and overturned. The 1987 Oldsmobile ended up on its roof.

The driver, Doris E. Jones, 45, of the 1500 block of Cary Ave., was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition Saturday night.

Moments after that accident, Kimberly Yvette Rivers, 31, of the 700 block of Halifax St. stopped her 1996 Honda in the eastbound lanes. She apparently had seen the accident and was trying to call for help on a cellular phone when her car was struck from behind by a 1985 Buick.

The impact was severe, heavily damaging both vehicles.

Rivers was taken to the trauma center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she died at 2:54 a.m.

Moments after the second accident, police said, the driver of the Buick got out of the car and jumped off the side of the bridge, landing on the ground below.

The man, identified as Garland Bennett, 36, of the 100 block of East Indian River Road, was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a variety of injuries. His condition was not available late Saturday.

Police have filed no charges in the accident, but stressed that the investigation was continuing.

``We are asking that anyone that may have witnessed that accident call'' investigators, Hill said.

Witnesses can call 441-2211 or Crime Line at 664-4040. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY

INJURIES

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