Rescue crews pull the submerged vehicle out of the creek where driver Franklin Lee Harvey was trapped after it overturned. He did not survive. Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent A 76-year-old Dudley man died Wednesday afternoon on Faison Highway following a single-vehicle collision that ended with his truck being submerged after plummeting into a creek.
On Wednesday, at 1:58 p.m., N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper W.E. Johnson responded to the single-vehicle collision near the address of 5074 Faison Highway (N.C. 403) north of Clinton.
According to reports, a 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck being driven by Franklin Lee Harvey, 77, of Rollingwood Court, Dudley, was traveling north on Faison Highway when it ran off the right side of the roadway and plummeted into a creek and was completely submerged, overturning in the creek.
Sampson County Water Rescue, assisted by Cumberland County Water Rescue, was able to recover the driver from vehicle, pronounced him dead at the scene. The only passenger, Garris D. Ward, 54, of the same Rollingwood Court address, was able to exit the vehicle without injury.
Highway Patrol authorities did not believe speed was a factor, but noted that neither the driver nor the passenger was restrained. Cheryl Fogg, a family member, claimed the contrary following those reports, telling The Sampson Independent both were in fact restrained as the incident happened but weren’t upon authorities’ arrival as Ward freed himself and Harvey in an attempted rescue.
Highway Patrol First Sgt. Kevin Pearson noted impairment was not involved, but potential medical conditions were thought to be the factor in the wreck, though unconfirmed as autopsy results are pending.
The deadly wreck was the second in Sampson County in a three-day span this week and the 11th on county roadways this year.
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