ASHEVILLE, N.C. (THECOUNT) — Jimmy Lee Brooks, of Leicester, North Carolina, has died and several others were injured after a wrong-way Tesla crash on Interstate 26 in Buncombe County Thursday afternoon. Bradley Vance Lanier, 54, of Taylors, South Carolina, has been charged in connection with the fatal collision.
According to published reports citing the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Lanier was driving a Tesla westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-26 near Exit 37 in Asheville when he struck a Honda SUV head-on. The Tesla then collided with a Honda passenger car near mile marker 36.5.
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Brooks was a passenger in the Honda passenger car. He was transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville, where he died from injuries suffered in the crash.
The driver and another passenger in the Honda passenger car were also taken to Mission Hospital with serious injuries. Their conditions were not immediately available. The driver of the Honda SUV suffered minor injuries, was hospitalized and later released.
Lanier also sustained minor injuries and was treated at a hospital before being released and taken into custody, according to published reports.
Lanier was arrested Thursday, Oct. 22, and charged with felony death by vehicle, felony serious injury by vehicle, driving while impaired and reckless driving, according to Buncombe County jail records. He was being held at the Buncombe County Detention Center under a $5 million secured bond. A court appearance was scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23.
The crash was reported around 2:30 p.m. Thursday and forced the closure of eastbound I-26 for approximately two hours, creating miles-long traffic backups.
Leicester is an unincorporated community in Buncombe County, northwest of Asheville in western North Carolina. The crash occurred on a major interstate corridor serving the Asheville metropolitan area.
Google Maps: Interstate 26 near Exit 37, Buncombe County, North Carolina (approximate crash area; the precise collision location was reported near mile marker 36.5).
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