LINDA PAYNE

lpayne@newstopic.net

A Granite Falls man died late Thursday due to injuries he sustained in a single-vehicle collision earlier that evening.

According to North Carolina Highway Patrolman D.D. Hamby, Mario Edgardo Ortiz, 59, was traveling toward Lenoir on Wilkesboro Boulevard near Laxton Road when he lost control of his vehicle shortly before 8 p.m.

Hamby said he continues to investigate the exact cause, but it appears Ortiz came around the curve too fast, crossed left of center and slid off the road to the left. Hamby said skid marks show that Ortiz attempted to pull his car back to the right, which sent him back on the roadway sideways. The car eventually came back across the road and crossed a small ditch. Hamby said the driver side tires touched first, causing the car to spin through a yard, clip a telephone pole and fire pole with guide wires, and through another small embankment. Hamby said the car eventually landed on its passenger side after rolling a full time and colliding with a tree.

"There is no indication at this time whether or not alcohol or any other circumstances caused the wreck, but my investigation continues," Hamby said, adding that he planned to return to the accident scene to retrace his steps and see if he could detrmine exactly what happened.

Kenneth Teague, who tended to Ortiz at the scene, said Ortiz was entrapped in his vehicle and had to be extricated through the front windshield.

"The car was on its side, so we had to stabilize it using cribbing and rope before we could enter the car to assist him," Teague said. "We cut through the windshield to gain access and then freed him from the vehicle."

Teague said Ortiz was transported by ambulance to the landing zone at Caldwell Memorial Hospital with head injuries and multi-system trauma. He was unconscious, but breathing at the time. He then was airlifted by MedCenter Air to Carolinas Medical Center, where he later died.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Tractor accident sends Lenoir man to hospital

A 63-year-old Lenoir man was airlifted Thursday evening to an area hospital after becoming pinned underneath a tractor.

According to Caldwell EMS reports, Dan Staring suffered lower-extremity injuries and possible internal injuries when a tractor rolled on top of him. A landing zone was set up at Globe Church, and Staring was flown to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.

His condition was unavailable Friday afternoon.