(WYDaily/ Courtesy of James City County Police Department)
Three people were injured, one seriously, in a Wednesday afternoon crash in James City County involving an intoxicated driver, police said.
At 3:53 p.m., officers were called to a four-vehicle crash in the intersection of Merrimac Tail and Penniman Road.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Carrie Ann Yates, 41, of Quinton, had been at the Speedway convenience Store on 2nd Street in Williamsburg attempting to buy alcohol, James City County police said in a news release.
The clerk denied the sale because Yates appeared to be intoxicated. As a result, Yates assaulted the clerk, police allege. Yates then left the store in a 2001 BMW driving east on Merrimac Trail at a high rate of speed.
As Yates approached the intersection at Penniman Road, she ran a stop light and struck a 1999 Toyota pickup truck, police aid. The force of that collision forced the truck into the westbound lanes of Merrimac Trail striking two more vehicles, a 2019 Honda Civic and a 2010 Honda Pilot.
The driver of the Toyota, a 53-year-old Williamsburg man, was airlifted to Riverside Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt, police said.
The driver of the Honda Civic, a 22-year-old York County woman, had no visible injuries, but the vehicle had significant damage.
The driver of the Honda Pilot, a 53-year-old James City County woman, also had no visible injuries, but the vehicle had significant damage.
Yates was treated at Riverside Regional Medical Center for minor injuries and release. She has been charged with DUI and released on a summons.
This investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected, police said.
Update as of Friday, Jan. 8:
On Jan. 7, JCC PD took Yates into custody for four counts of probation violation from Henrico County and sent her to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. The next day, Yates was charged with felony DUI maiming, failure to obey a red light and expired registration, police said.
She is at VPRJ and is being held without bond.
“Because the assault on the clerk at Speedway took place in York County, the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office is investigating that incident,” according to the JCC police department’s news release on Friday. “This investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges are expected.”
Authorities said the Williamsburg man driving the Toyota pickup truck is in critical condition on life support and the James City County woman driving the Honda Pilot has a broken wrist.
