Fatal crash puts spotlight on Bristol street racing

BRISTOL, Va. – The Monday night crash that left an Abingdon, Va., woman dead and sent police searching for a red Mustang that fled the scene has shoved street racing into local headlines for the third time in recent years.

Melinda Woodward, 38, was turning left on a green light from Osborne Street onto Gate City Highway at 6 p.m. Monday when she got caught in the middle of a southbound high-speed race. Police said a silver Pontiac Trans Am flew through a red light and smashed into her driver’s-side door, killing her on impact. A red Mustang, charging along beside the Trans Am, fled the scene.

The driver of the Trans Am, 19-year-old Joseph D. Rose, of Pound, Va., and his male passenger were taken to Bristol Regional Medical Center. Rose was treated and released. Police said charges are pending.

Authorities suspect they’re getting close to tracking down the young man witnesses saw flee in the Mustang. Bristol Virginia Police Sgt. Steve Crawford said officers chased down dozens of tips Tuesday that alluded to the identity and whereabouts of the fleeing driver.

Crawford said investigators have yet to determine exactly how fast the two cars were driving because there were no skid marks on the road. To prove a high-speed race, police must “put the wreck back together.”

On Tuesday afternoon, police obtained a search warrant for the Trans Am, which was essentially smashed into a ball of silver metal, to collect a device, sometimes called an event data recorder, that tracks movements in newer-model cars, much like an airplane’s black box. They expect the investigation to be farther along today.

Family, friends and neighbors said a resolution can’t come fast enough, and it’s not the first time the dangerous sport of street racing shook the Tri-Cities.

On Sept. 24, 2005, a street race in Johnson City, Tenn., killed 17-year-old Cortney Hensley the day after she was crowned homecoming queen of David Crockett High School in Washington County, Tenn. She was a passenger in an SUV stopped at a North Roane Street traffic signal when it was slammed from behind by a car steered by Bradley D. Mullins, 22.

The SUV burst into flames. Hensley died at the scene. Her best friend and SUV driver, Courtney Beard, of Piney Flats, Tenn., survived despite severe burns and internal injuries. Her recovery included multiple surgeries, skin grafts and facial reconstruction.

A jury convicted Mullins of vehicular homicide and sentenced him to five years in prison. Co-defendant David Phillips, 42, also was convicted of vehicular homicide, and is appealing the accompanying six-year prison sentence.

Several years later in Kingsport, in September 2008, a silver Mustang and a white Corvette were racing on East Stone Drive when the Mustang lost control, literally flew into a nearby car lot, took out nine parked cars and sent the 22-year-old driver, Joseph Cornell, through his windshield. The Corvette driver fled the scene.

Cornell underwent several surgeries and was in the hospital for days, according to news reports. A year later, in September 2009, he was charged with DUI, drag racing, drag racing resulting in serious bodily injury, felony reckless endangerment, possession of methadone, possession of alprazolam, one count of vandalism over $10,000, four counts of vandalism over $1,000, and one of vandalism of $500 or less. He posted a $30,000 bond, and is scheduled for trial later this month.

As of last news accounts, the driver of the Corvette was never found.

In Bristol, Tuesday wasn’t a good day to be driving a red Mustang.

“We’ve been looking for that car all day,” Crawford, the Bristol police sergeant said. “We’ve got a lot of good information, a lot of good leads, and we’re following up as fast as we can.”