Tuesday afternoon, Dudley firefighters and Wayne County EMS were dispatched to the scene of a single vehicle accident on U.S. 117 Alt. near Outlaw Road. The fire and medical units found a Ford Ranger pickup truck wedged up against a cedar tree on its side with the driver pinned inside. Officials on the scene requested assistance from the Mar-Mac Fire Department to help extricate the driver. Once the top of the truck was removed, EMS personal started working on the driver. The driver was quickly removed from the wreckage and taken to the airport where he was airlifted out. A section of U.S. 117 Alt. from Sleepy Creek Road to Outlaw Road was closed to all traffic with assistance from Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies. The driver apparently ran off the road while heading north toward Outlaw Road, overcorrected, crossed the centerline, struck several mailboxes and a light pole, ran off the left side of the road, and flipped several times before crashing into the tree. The male driver was the only person in the truck. The accident in under investigation by the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
