PILOT, N.C. (AP) – A mud-racing Jeep crashed through a chain-link fence into a crowd of spectators, killing one woman and injuring her daughter and 19 others.
The victim’s name was being withheld until family members were notified, Franklin County Sheriff Jerry Jones said Sunday. Her daughter was in critical condition with a head injury, and another woman suffered two broken legs.
Driver A.J. McCoy, 28, was not hurt, Jones said.
McCoy was driving a Jeep Wrangler in a “mudsling” event Saturday night, a straight-line course in a mud pit about the length of a football field, Jones said.
“He was full throttle when he came out of that pit,” said Tommy Floyd, a firefighter who was in the audience.
The Jeep completed the course but then kept going, finally stopping on top of the downed fence.
The sheriff said he would meet Monday with the district attorney to discuss possible charges.
Jones estimated 300 to 500 people were at the track, about 25 miles east of Raleigh.
He said investigators were checking to see whether any rules dictated whether the chain-link fence was acceptable protection for the crowd.
AP-ES-08-17-03 1438EDT
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