THOMASVILLE, NC – An ambulance transporting a patient to Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem received significant damage after it collided with an SUV at the intersection of N.C. Highway 109 North and West Lexington Avenue Extension.

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Family members of Sherrie Denise Varnon, 40, of Quinton squealed with excitement upon hearing the not guilty verdict returned to Circuit Judge David Hobdy Jr. by the jury of eight women and four men.

Varnon was on trial for the Nov. 5, 2009, wreck which killed Norma Alexander near the 18th Street exit in Bessemer.

Prosecutors argued Varnon took her eyes off the road for about 10 seconds and fiddled with a cellphone in her right hand just before the Rural Metro ambulance she was driving struck the back of the vehicle in which Alexander was a passenger.

Alexander was ejected from the vehicle and killed. Varnon was not responding to an emergency and was on her way to pick up another driver that day, prosecutor Lane Tolbert argued. The ambulance was traveling at 87 mph in the northbound lanes when it struck the vehicle driven by Alexander’s daughter, Lisa, from behind, causing it to flip several times.

Varnon’s eyes returned to the roadway just before the collision, Tolbert said.

Tommy Tucker, Varnon’s attorney, argued Alexander’s daughter was at fault. The vehicle carrying the two women had crossed the median from the southbound lanes into the northbound lane just before it was struck by the ambulance.

Jurors watched video of the wreck during the trial.

Tucker said he was grateful for the jury’s verdict and called the incident a tragedy for the families of both Alexander and Varnon.

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The accident occurred about 2:40 in the westbound lanes of the bypass, which is Route 422, between the Mount Penn and Interstate 176 exits.

A patient was in the ambulance at the time of the accident, emergency dispatchers said.

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The victims were taken to Reading Hospital. Information on their conditions could not be obtained.

Fire police from Cumru and Exeter townships closed one of the westbound lanes for about an hour and directed traffic.

Further details were unavailable.

An ambulance driver is on trial in Bessemer, charged with manslaughter for killing a 72-year-old woman in a 2009 wreck.

Sherrie Stone Varnon is accused of causing the wreck that killed Norma Alexander. Today in opening statements, prosecutors said Varnon was reckless while driving an ambulance and scrolling on her phone at the same time.

The wreck happened on I-59 Northbound just before the 18th/19th Street exit in Bessemer.

Varnon’s attorneys said in court Tuesday it was Norma Alexander’s daughter Lisa who was reckless and that she is the one at fault in the wreck that caused her mother’s death.

Today on the stand, Lisa Alexander told jurors she was running late for a doctor’s appointment on the day of the accident, Nov. 5, 2009. She was headed onto I-59 south to her appointment near UAB West when she noticed traffic was stopped due to a wreck ahead.

Alexander says she decided to cross the median to take a different route, and as she looked up the road, she saw flashing lights far off in the distance.

A few seconds after turning onto the road, she was hit from behind by a rural metro ambulance driven by Sherri Varnon.

In a statement to police, Varnon said she was following behind an ambulance from the first accident, headed to UAB. She didn’t have a passenger but her lights and siren were on and she was going more than 87 miles per hour. She says dispatchers called and as she went to answer her phone, the wreck occurred.

But on Tuesday afternoon, jurors were shown video recorded inside the ambulance that told a different story. Varnon could be seen with a phone in her right hand looking down for almost 10 seconds. She looked up just seconds before slamming into the back of the Alexander’s SUV, causing it to flip four times and ejecting Normal Alexander, who died on impact.

The prosecution has one other witness to present tomorrow. It’s not yet known if Varnon will take the stand. If convicted, Varnon would face two to 20 years in prison.

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46-year-old Carlos Hernandez was struck by an ambulance on East Lake Mead Boulevard near Pecos the night of April 22.

Police said at the time Hernandez was crossing the street outside of a marked crosswalk. He was rushed to University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The MedicWest ambulance driver, a 26-year-old man, was not hurt and consented to a blood draw. A second occupant of the ambulance was also uninjured. Police said drugs and alcohol were not a factor on the part of the driver.

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It happened near Lincoln and Hillside around 3:55 a.m. Monday. Authorities said an EMS crew was returning to the station after a routine call, when a car traveling south on Hillside hit the ambulance. The impact turned the ambulance on its side.

Two paramedics were inside the ambulance during the accident. They were taken to a nearby hospital with potential injuries. No patients were inside at the time.

The driver of the car, a 25-year-old man, was also transported with serious injuries. Officers said none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.

Investigators are looking into whether speed and alcohol may have played a factor in the crash.

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Police in Manchester are investigating the cause of a crash involving an ambulance and a mini van on Saturday night.

It happened just before 10 p.m. near the intersection of Oak and Spruce Streets.

Police said the ambulance was traveling east on Oak Street with its siren and emergency lights flashing and was responding to a medical emergency when it collided with the mini van.

The impact of the crash caused the mini van to roll over and come to rest on its roof, according to officials.

The driver of the mini van was taken to Hartford Hospital for minor injuries. The ambulance personnel were evaluated at Manchester Memorial Hospital for minor injuries.

Police said no patient was in the ambulance at the time of the collision, and that everyone was wearing their seatbelts.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash and ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident to call Manchester police.

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Clinton County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Clarke said the vehicles were responding to a call for house fire — it ended up being a chimney fire — shortly after 10 a.m. They were traveling south on Shepardsville Road when they collided while attempting to turn onto Taft Road.

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Jessica Manns, 32, of 4303 Monroe St. was charged with grand theft and felonious assault. She was being held Friday night in the Lucas County jail.

Hospital security told police the Mercy Life Star vehicle, which was parked at the hospital’s ambulance bay, was taken about 7 p.m. Police observed the ambulance less than five minutes later and stopped the driveron the Phillips Avenue entrance ramp to southbound I-75.

Police said the suspect entered through the rear of the ambulance and sat in the passenger compartment before getting into the driver’s seat, starting the engine, and fleeing.

Officers said she nearly struck a pedestrian on the sidewalk as she pulled out of the driveway.

Sarah Bednarski, a spokesman for the Mercy St. Vincent parent firm, said there were no patients in the ambulance, and narcotics were not stored in it. Mercy Life Star is owned by the hospital system.

She said it was the first time that anyone at the hospital could recall an ambulance being stolen.

“I guess there is a first for everything,” Ms. Bednarski said.

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There was a patient in the ambulance being taken to Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville at the time, but that person did not suffer any injuries in the wreck, according to officials.

Paramedics said the driver of the car and two medics were taken to the hospital to be checked out and will be Ok.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating what caused the accident.

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Mark Scanlon, 42, a nine-year veteran of the department, was charged with indecent solicitation of a minor and child exploitation. Judge Donald Panarese Jr. set bail at $50,000.

According to prosecutors, Scanlon communicated with the victim through Facebook for nine months beginning in January 2011.

In that time, he sent her numerous messages discussing sexual acts and asked her to meet him for sex at least once, prosecutors said.

The girl was 10 when the contact began, prosecutors said.

The victim told her brother about the messages last October, and the family notified the police.

Investigators recovered messages from the Facebook accounts of both Scanlon and the girl as well as information from Scanlon’s cell phone and computer, prosecutors said.

Scanlon was hired in November 2003 and was a paramedic in charge of an ambulance at a downtown fire station, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. He was placed on paid leave when the department learned of the investigation in October.

Scanlon turned himself in to Chicago police voluntarily after he was charged on Thursday.

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“We’re always looking for volunteers,” says Bob Frost, the captain of the Bristol Rescue Squad. “If someone new comes into the area, we fill them in on it.”

In its heyday, the Bristol Fire Department had at least a dozen volunteer EMTs for its ambulance service. Now that number has dwindled down to six and it has become difficult to sufficiently respond to medical calls.

David Parsons, a Bristol town board member, says it’s a sign of the times.

Both men and women are now working full-time jobs and many people can’t afford to volunteer their time.

Also, the requirements to become a certified EMT have become tougher.

According to Frost, people training to become EMTs now have to have 200 hours of training opposed to 150 when he trained five years ago. The requirements are the same whether you are a paid or volunteer EMT. The 200 training hours does not include the firefighting training hours many EMTs also have to take.

For all these reasons combined, the Bristol Town Board and Bristol Fire Department started discussing ways to provide better service two years ago.

Finger Lakes Ambulance has already been helping Bristol by responding to its daytime medical calls. Earlier this year, Finger Lakes Ambulance responded to all medical calls alongside Bristol Ambulance. Starting June 1, Finger Lakes Ambulance will start working alone.

The existing volunteer EMTs will now work as certified first responders. They will head to medical calls from their homes and will have a bag with medical supplies with them. A Finger Lakes Ambulance will meet them at the scene.

“There are more of us scattered throughout the district,” says Frost. “When a call does come in, someone that lives closer to you will come.  You’ll see a medic walking through the door a lot faster and start treatment and patient care.”

Bristol Fire Chief Eric Dey says Finger Lakes Ambulance’s response times were just as good, if not better, than Bristol’s. Time is saved because, unlike Bristol volunteers who have to go the firehouse for their gear and the truck, Finger Lakes EMTs are already out in their ambulances.

But not everyone is convinced the new system will work out better.

Bristol Deputy Supervisor Alden Favro says he’s concerned about the added costs for his residents.

When you’re transported to the hospital in a town ambulance, the transportation is free. However, Finger Lakes Ambulance is a paid service and the patient will get billed for transportation to the hospital.

“A lot of people aren’t going to be able to afford the paid ambulance service,” Favro says. “I anticipate that some of the older people that don’t have a lot of money, like retired people will hesitate to call the ambulance knowing that they will be billed for it.”

Frost says many insurance providers pay for ambulance service and ensures using Finger Lakes Ambulance is the best way to remedy the shortage of volunteers.

“We’ll still be able to give the people of Bristol better service,” he says. “They’ll see someone a lot faster and there will be benefits all the way around.”

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A Lynchburg Police Department news release issued just after noon on Friday said that the driver – Justin Kidd, 25, of Rustburg – failed to stop at the red light at the intersection of Campbell and Florida avenues.

No additional information was immediately available.

Earlier:

A Lynchburg man died after his pickup truck and a Campbell County ambulance collided in Lynchburg on Thursday afternoon.

Lynchburg Police said Dean Anders, 69, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at the intersection of Campbell and Florida avenues.

The ambulance, driven by Justin Kidd, 25, of Rustburg, was headed north on Campbell Avenue.

Anders was driving his truck across Campbell Avenue from Martin Street onto Florida Avenue, police said.

The ambulance collided with the Ford pickup in its passenger’s side. The truck overturned.

A witness at the scene said she was on Campbell Avenue heading into the city, when the ambulance passed her.

Roseann Dickerson, of Lynchburg, said she saw the ambulance slow approaching the light, but continued through the intersection where it hit the pickup. At one point, the ambulance was sitting partially on top of the truck, she said.

Capt. Ryan Zuidema, of the Lynchburg Police Department, said the ambulance was transporting a patient to Lynchburg General Hospital.

That patient, a family member, Kidd and another Campbell County emergency worker staffing the ambulance were taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. None are believed to have life-threatening injuries.

Lynchburg Fire Department Chief Brad Ferguson said the county unit called for help immediately after the wreck, at 12:15 p.m.

He said the first unit arrived on scene six minutes later.

Police and fire and rescue crews created a barrier of sheets around the truck before removing Anders’s body from the truck that came to a stop upside down in the median. His body was removed more than hour after the crash.

Zuidema said the James River Regional Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating the wreck.

He said charges are pending, but could not confirm Thursday afternoon whether the ambulance had its lights and sirens on, or whether the traffic light was red at the time.

Police reopened the south-bound lanes of Campbell Avenue at 2:45 p.m., and reopened the north-bound lanes at 4 p.m.

Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to call the Lynchburg Police Department’s traffic unit at (434) 455-6047 or Central Virginia Crime Stoppers at (888) 798-5900.

Campbell County did not release a statement regarding the wreck Thursday.

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Grundy County Sheriff’s Office arrested Scott Van Meter, 45, of Grundy Center at 8:40 p.m. after a 45-year-old woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted, according to the police affidavit.

The woman claimed Van Meter forced himself on her in a home early Sunday.

Upon investigation, Van Meter admitted to having had sexual contact with the woman, but said that it was not done by force or against her will, according to the affidavit.

Van Meter made bond at about noon Monday following the arrest for the Class C felony.

Erika Allen, Grundy County attorney, said an application for a search warrant and the return of that warrant have been sealed to protect the alleged victim.

Allen said, to the best of her knowledge, Van Meter was not on duty at the time of the alleged incident.

The investigation by Grundy County Sheriff’s Office will continue.

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One of the passengers, a 41-year-old Lawrence man, was injured and taken by a private vehicle to Cushing Memorial Hospital in Leavenworth. The driver, a 23-year-old Merriam man, and the third passenger, a 40-year-old woman from Overland Park, were also taken to Cushing Memorial Hospital for possible injuries.

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