14-year-old injured in wreck dies

By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

A 14-year-old boy severely injured in a Saturday-night wreck died at Carolinas Medical Center Sunday afternoon.

Jonathon Thomas Richardson, a student at North Hills Christian School and resident of Gheen Road, died at 12:17 p.m. Sunday.

Trooper Bradley Potts of the N.C. Highway Patrol said Richardson sustained a severe head injury when he was thrown from an overturning truck on Potneck Road Saturday night.

A CMC medical helicopter transported Richardson from the scene.

The single-vehicle wreck occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday on Potneck Road, three-tenths of a mile west of Campbell Road.

Potts said Richardson was in a 1985 Nissan pickup driven by Matthew Dale Bishop, 17, of U.S. 70, Cleveland.

Richardson and another passenger, Michael Joseph Tansey, 15, of Potneck Road, were in the cab of the pickup, which was going east on Potneck Road.

According to the investigation, Bishop had stopped to pick up Tansey and had just left his home.

Potts said the pickup went off the right side of the road and Bishop over-corrected, losing control.

The truck turned over several times, ejecting Richardson into the roadway.

Bishop and Tansey remained in the vehicle.

Tansey was transported by Rowan EMS to Rowan Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Potts said Bishop had some scrapes and cuts but was not transported from the scene.

Potts said neither the driver nor the passengers were wearing seat belts.

Bishop told Potts that he been having trouble with the truck and it had been cutting on and off just prior to the accident.

Potts estimated the speed at the time of the accident at 65 mph in a 55 mph zone.

He charged Bishop with careless and reckless driving and a child-restraint violation.

There was no indication of alcohol being a factor in the wreck, the trooper said.

Potts said Bishop has had his driver's license since last December and had accumulated three points on his license. Information on the specific violation was not available.

The trooper will consult with District Attorney Bill Kenerly today to determine other potential charges involving the death of Richardson.