By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
Salisbury Police officers are planning to meet with Rowan County District Attorney Brandy Cook to discuss possible charges for one of the drivers in Sunday’s fatal motorcycle accident.
According to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Dexter Jones, driver of the 1998 Oldsmobile that crashed into a 2007 Honda motorcycle, killing two, as it pulled out of a gas station parking lot on South Main Street, has been upgraded to serious condition.?The Post reported on Sept. 12 that Jones was in critical condition at the Winston Salem hospital.
Both passengers of the motorcycle, Roger Dale Carriker, 39, of Linwood, and Heather Elizabeth Cross, 22, of Salisbury, died instantly.
A Salisbury Police incident report said that crack cocaine was found in Jones’ possession at the scene of the crash. Alcohol was also believed to be a factor in the wreck.
Jones, 31, was released from prison on Sept. 4, seven days before the accident, after violating probation on convictions of felony selling and distributing drugs on school grounds, felony possession of cocaine and felony possession of a controlled substance, N.C. Department of Correction records show.
Salisbury Police said they have been waiting for blood and toxicology reports from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center before speaking with District Attorney Cook. No charges had been filed Thursday morning.
The other passenger in the Oldsmobile, Harvey Ratcliffe Jr., was released after being treated at Rowan Regional Medical Center for minor injuries.
Authorities said Jones was turning left out of the parking lot of Wilco-Hess in the 3400 block of South Main Street, heading north, when he crossed the southbound lane in the path of the oncoming motorcycle at about 10 p.m.