By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ó Authorities said Sunday that an evening thunderstorm and worn out tires were to blame for a wreck that killed a Salisbury woman and injured two other people.
Kimberly Renee Cook, 33, of 265 Shore Acres Road in Salisbury, was killed in the head-on collision Friday on Woodleaf Road.
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper J.N. Horton said Nina Marie Cook, 22, was driving east with a passenger at 7:30 p.m. when heavy rain suddenly hit.
As she drove into a curve at the 2400 block of Woodleaf Road, Horton said, Cook crossed the center line and struck a westbound Saturn station wagon driven by Kimberly Cook. (The women are not believed to be related.)
Nina Cook, of 5175 Woodleaf Road in Salisbury, was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle, driving left of center and having unsafe tires.
ěWeather conditions and slick tires mostly contributed to her sliding across the center line,î Horton said.
Kimberly Cook was pinned in the vehicle for about an hour before emergency crews cut her out and took her to Rowan Regional Medical Center. She died at the hospital.
ěThe EMS workers were doing everything they possibly could, but the vehicle was crushed and she was trapped inside,î Horton said.
Nina Cook also was pinned in her Honda Civic, but rescue workers pulled her out. She was taken to Rowan Regional with leg injuries and possible lung damage.
Initially, two helicopters were called to the hospital for the women, but one was diverted to the county airport by the storm and then cancelled. The other flew Nina Cook out to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where she was listed in fair condition Sunday night.
Her passenger Aaron Mill, 20, a Salisbury resident, was treated at Rowan Regional for minor injuries and released.