Eastern Rowan man dies in car accident near Rockwell
Published 7:07 pm Wednesday, June 8, 2016
- Josh Bergeron / Salisbury Post - A white Chevrolet Silverado sits in a field after it veered off the side of a section of Emanuel Church Road located immediately south of Rockwell. The driver Johnny Blackwelder was killed in the accident.
By Josh Bergeron
josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com
ROCKWELL — An eastern Rowan County man died Wednesday afternoon after his truck veered off the side of a rural road and flipped multiple times.
Johnny Ray Blackwelder, a 50-year-old resident of eastern Rowan County, died in a one-vehicle accident on Emanuel Church Road. State Trooper C.T. Walker said Blackwelder was speeding at the time of the accident. Blackwelder wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, Walker said.
The accident occurred immediately to the south of Rockwell’s city limits on the 1300 block of Emanuel Church Road. At about 4 p.m. Blackwelder was driving toward Rockwell in his 1996 Chevrolet Silverado, Walker said. Blackwelder drifted across the road’s center line and off of the road’s left side. He overcorrected and drove off of the right side of the road, Walker said.
Blackwelder struck a telephone pole, and his vehicle veered into a field, flipping two to three times, Walker said. Blackwelder was ejected from the vehicle.
Walker said family members of Blackwelder who came across the accident unsuccessfully attempted to perform CPR before Blackwelder died.
For a period of an hour or so following the accident, a small stretch of Emanuel Church Road was closed as crews removed Blackwelder’s body and towed his vehicle.
Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.
