NORTH CAROLINA INMATE DIES AFTER WORK CREW STRUCK ON I-40
One of three inmates who were struck by a vehicle while working in the median of Interstate 40 died Tuesday afternoon. The driver of a westbound sport utility vehicle lost control of the vehicle near the Lake Wheeler Road exit of I-40 at about 8:15 a.m., and the SUV skidded into the median, hitting three inmates and an empty prison van.
The inmates were part of a trash-pickup work crew from Wake Correctional Center, a minimum security facility, located on Rock Quarry Road. The SUV rolled on top of one inmate, prompting the other two to come to his aid.
Inmate John Junior Perry, 38, and corrections officer John McDonald also were injured in the wreck. Their injuries aren't considered life-threatening, authorities said. A third inmate, Chasi Shabayen, 42, was uninjured, authorties said.
The SUV driver, Frederick Henri Beaujeu-Dufour, 37, of Clinton, and his 3-year-old son weren't seriously injured, authorities said. Authorities aren't sure what caused the SUV driver to lose control of the vehicle. According to the Department of Correction, another work crew inmate was recently struck by a passing vehicle. Andre Voznyuk, 19, was struck June 13 by a pickup truck on Interstate 26 in Henderson County, officials said. He was taken to an Asheville hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Corrections officials also said an inmate was struck and killed May 18, 2006, by a SUV in Iredell County on I-40. The department's safety office will investigate Tuesday's incident on I-40 and could decide whether any procedures need to change, Acree said. "It doesn't happen every day, but it happens more often then we'd like it to," he said of the wrecks. "We have inmates working on the road year-round, and we know that the public wants us out there.
Related Links
Links provided with these articles were active and accurate as of the posting of the article to ResponderSafety.com. However, web sites change and the organization hosting the page at the link may have moved or removed it since this article was posted. Therefore, some links may no longer be active.