A driver charged with DWI in a Sunday collision that hospitalized eight members of an Eden, NC, family has offered an apology on his Facebook page – well, sort of. The accident occurred on U.S. 220 in Guilford County.
According to reports from Fox8, State Highway Patrol Trooper Gordy said the accident occurred when a Dodge Intrepid driven by Mitchell Edwin Winfree of Reidsville struck the rear of a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer SUV. The Mountaineer rolled several times. Ambulance crews took eight people in the Mountaineer, including four children under the age of 10, to the hospital.
WFMY reports one of the injured adults is listed in critical condition but expected to recover while another adult required surgery for non life-threatening injuries.
Trooper Gordy said Mr. Winfree did not stop at the scene and was found approximately ½ mile away. Mr. Winfree was charged with DWI, careless and reckless driving and felony hit and run. According to WFMY, Mr. Winfree was under the influence of an unknown narcotic at the time of the collision.
In an unusual move, Mr. Winfree offered his own statement in reader comments to the WFMY article that were repeated on his Facebook page.
Here’s what he had to say:
"this is micthell winfree i hit the vehicle but my brake went outafter the impact it was not a hit and run an also they were running 85 and went to a sudden stop and my cruise control was set at 63 mph im so sorry i hit them but in my eyes they should have never slammed on breaks like they did down to 45 on the highway i just hope there all ok .so sorry to all who was involved"
"they slammed on breaks so hard all i seen was smoke and smelled burnt rubber"
"hope u all get well"
It seems likely from his comments that Mr. Winfree disagrees with Trooper Gordy’s account of the crash. However that may be, there can be no argument with his final sentiment offering hope that the injured family gets well.
UPDATE: Since I posted this article, the comments appearing on the WFMY website as well as those on Mr. Winfree's Facebook page have disappeared. It is unclear whether Mr. Winfree removed them.
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