By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
Authorities suspect alcohol and drugs were involved in a chase and head-on collision that occurred early Sunday after a driver went the wrong way on Interstate 85.
Katrina Oxendine, 27, of 713 Lincolnton Road, was charged after she led police on a high-speed chase and hit a Virginia man and his son head-on sometime before 2:30 a.m., authorities said.
Oxendine was initially being pursued by Salisbury police. She was clocked at speeds that reached 115 mph. Oxendine was driving a 2004 Dodge Intrepid passenger vehicle. The wreck began on the interstate. At some point, Oxendine got off the interstate around exit 63 and then got back on I-85, headed south in the northbound lanes. She collided with a 2007 Ford work van driven by Darell Clark, 47, of Gasburg, Va.
His son, Thomas Clark, 23, was a passenger in the van.
Troopers arrived on the scene where the vehicles came to rest one mile north of Earnhardt Road at exit 60.
According to Cabarrus County Trooper R.E. Cook, the collision resulted in minor injuries. “The driver of the van had no injuries. His passenger had a sprained ankle and an injury to his left hand,” Cook said.
Oxendine had cuts to her face. There was no alcohol found in Oxendine’s vehicle, Cook said. However, paraphernalia was found.
Oxendine’s vehicle was cut in half, Cook said. The impact was on the center of her vehicle, where the right front of the Dodge hit the right front of the Ford van.
“It was like someone took a saw and cut the Intrepid in half,” Cook said.
The N.C. Highway Patrol charged Oxendine with reckless driving and driving while impaired. The Salisbury Police are likely to charge Oxendine with possession of a stolen vehicle and felony fleeing to elude arrest.
“It’s a miracle the injuries weren’t worse than they were,” he said.
Oxendine was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and later released.