FLAT ROCK, N.C. -- A man whose longtime girlfriend was killed in a collision with a fire truck Wednesday became hysterical at the scene and drove into another fire truck and three other vehicles, officials said yesterday.
Mitchell Willard, 32, has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and driving while impaired.
After Willard arrived at the scene of the wreck that killed his girlfriend, Laura Seal, he became hysterical and tried to remove Seal's body from her wrecked 1992 Ford Explorer.
A family member managed to restrain him, at which point he got into another person's car, authorities said, and drove it into three other vehicles and a fire truck.
Willard then fled from that wrecked car and was later arrested, said Sgt. Mitch Haunn of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
"He was very emotional there at the scene," Haunn said.
Seal, 28, who lived with Willard at 158 Joe Reed Trail in Mount Airy, was killed at 2:44 p.m. when her car veered left of center and into the path of a fire truck, said John Shelton, Surry County's director of emergency services.
The couple's 3-year-old son, Levi Willard, was riding in the back seat unrestrained, Haunn said.
"There was a child seat in the rear," Haunn said. "It appears he was not in the seat, or in the seat and not strapped in. He actually came to rest kind of under the driver's seat and the door post, in between."
The boy was flown to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
The fire truck that Seal's SUV collided with belonged to the Four-Way Volunteer Fire Department and was part of a group that was taking part in a funeral for a local firefighter.
"The truck was on the way to block off an intersection for the funeral procession to come through," Haunn said.
William Crigger was driving that fire truck, and Cory Scearce was a passenger. Both were treated for minor injuries at Northern Hospital of Surry County and released, Shelton said.
It was unclear which fire department owned the truck that Willard struck. The other three vehicles that he hit were personal vehicles, Haunn said.
Surry County deputies charged Willard with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, disorderly conduct by funeral, injury to personal property, intoxicated and disruptive, reckless driving to endanger, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Willard was released from the Surry County Jail yesterday morning on $22,000 bond.
The N.C. Highway Patrol is investigating the collision but does not expect any charges to be filed.
"We do have a reconstruction team to come out this morning to help us get some additional measurements," Haunn said.
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