N.C. man faces DUI charges after Martinsburg woman hurt in crash

September 26, 2008|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A 37-year-old woman was being treated for severe head trauma and other injuries Thursday at a Virginia hospital after the car in which she was riding Wednesday evening crashed into a tree off Leetown Road in Jefferson County, police said.

The driver, Daniel Lewis Garden, 19, of North Carolina was in Eastern Regional Jail on Thursday evening after being arraigned on charges of driving under the influence causing injury, aggravated DUI, driving without a license and insurance, and driving without wearing a seat belt, according to police and jail records.

Magistrate Gail Boober set a $25,000 bond for Garden, according to court records.

The woman, Amy Conner, was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., from the accident scene near Box Factory Road, according to Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Sgt. R.L. Fletcher.

Conner, formerly of the Eastern Panhandle, reportedly was visiting the area from North Carolina when the accident happened about 7:30 p.m., Fletcher said.

A hospital spokesman could not confirm whether she was a patient there.

The Ford Mustang that Garden wrecked did not belong to him, Fletcher said. Garden lost control of the car traveling south on Leetown Road, crashed into a tree, traveled down an embankment and struck a fence, Fletcher said.

Garden declined medical treatment and a second passenger fled from the scene, Fletcher said. Conner was riding in the back seat on the passenger side of the car.

Emergency responders from Middleway, Ranson and Charles Town, W.Va., assisted the Sheriff's Department with the accident, which caused Leetown Road to be shut down for about 20 minutes, officials said.

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