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Bassett man dies in wreck after pursuit
Camaro flips and hits tree
Monday, June 18, 2012
By BULLETIN STAFF REPORTS -
A police pursuit ended early Sunday with a single-vehicle accident that left a Bassett man dead, according to a news release from the Virginia State Police.
Alan Dale Vernon, 55, was driving a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro when the accident happened shortly after 5:17 a.m. on Virginia 57, the release said.
According to the state police, a trooper observed the Camaro allegedly disregard a stop sign on Route 609 at Field Avenue. The trooper pursued the vehicle, which ran off the right side of Virginia 57 about 11?2 miles west of Route 609, overturned and struck the tree, the release said.
The pursuit lasted about 3 minutes, said state police Sgt. Robert Carpentieri. He was not certain how fast the vehicles were going at the time of the accident.
Vernon, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene, the release said.
Carpentieri said information provided to him shows that Vernon’s driver’s license was suspended in Virginia.
The Virginia State Police accident reconstruction team was called in to assist with the crash investigation, which is continuing.
Further information was not available Sunday.
It was the second fatal wreck in the area in about a week. John Daniel Wilson, 68, of Madison, N.C., died June 10 in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 220 South in Ridgeway, police have said.
