Two dead from crash involving farm vehicle

Published 10:40 am Wednesday, March 28, 2018

ZUNI
Two people died and a third was seriously injured as a result of a crash involving a farm vehicle on Route 460 (Windsor Boulevard) Monday afternoon.

According to Sgt. Michelle Anaya, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, the accident occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. near the highway’s intersection with State Route 645 (Yellow Hammer Road) in Zuni.

According to police, the driver of a commercial fertilizer truck, Walter Crocker Jr., lost control of his vehicle and ran off the roadway. He then over-corrected and crossed the center lines of 460, striking a 2006 Plymouth PT Cruiser head-on.

The driver and passenger of the PT Cruiser died upon impact. Crocker was flown to Norfolk Sentara Hospital with serious injuries and was charged with reckless driving and failure to maintain proper control.

The deceased driver has been identified as John Edgar Mallory, 60, of the 6000 block of Firewood Road, Chester, Virginia. The deceased passenger has been identified as Earl Garnett Mallory III, 65, of the 8100 block of Foxcatcher Court, North Chesterfield, Virginia.

Both deceased are related and notification has been made to family members.

The crash also resulted in all lanes of Route 460 being blocked in both directions for over four hours.

According to Nina Napolitano, senior communications specialist with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the scene was cleared and traffic resumed in both directions around 6:44 p.m.

[Editor’s note: This corrects the online version that the farm equipment vehicle was used for grain, as originally described by Virginia State Police.]