DRIVER WHO HIT NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE TO FACE FELONY CHARGE

The Robeson County district attorney has recommended adding a felony charge against the driver who struck a Lumberton police officer in May. Patrolman William Reed was walking along the median of Interstate 95 on May 15 when he was hit by a car. Reed was helping another officer investigate a motorcycle accident.

Joseph Serafini swerved to miss a vehicle that had slowed because of the crash. Serafini, 75, of Florida, was charged with failure to reduce speed and exceeding a safe speed. District Attorney Johnson Britt said he recommended that Serafini also be charged with a move over violation.

The Move Over law protects lawmen and emergency workers who have stopped along the highway. The law, passed in January 2002, requires motorists to move one lane away from lawmen and emergency personnel vehicles on the side of the road or slow down if unable to move over.

A change in the law in July 2006 allows motorists to be charged with a felony if a collision occurs that results in the serious injury or death of a lawman or emergency personnel. “Once the initial charge came in, I started looking over things. My advice to patrol was to charge the felony charge as well,” Britt said.

Serafini’s vehicle hit Reed at 70 mph, throwing his body near some shrubs in the median. He suffered two broken legs, a smashed kneecap and a bruise on his right lung. Reed, 29, spent nearly two months at UNC Health Care System in Chapel Hill.