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One-car accident kills Sylva man

Another wreck injures commissioner

By Carey Phillips
Michael Anthony Holden

Michael Anthony Holden

 N.C. Highway Patrol troopers responded to several scenes involving vehicular accidents recently, including one in which a Sylva man died early Sunday morning.

The deceased was identified as 35-year-old Michael Anthony Holden of Ridgeway Street. The one-car accident occurred on North River Road. Trooper D.L. Wood of the N.C. Highway Patrol said Holden was westbound on North River Road about a mile and a half from N.C. 116 when the accident occurred. He said Holden was driving a 1994 Mercury Sable at a high rate of speed. He said Holden lost control in a curve, ran off the road to the left and struck two walnut trees.

Crash site of Michael Anthony Holden Photo by Dale Nations

Michael Anthony Holden, 35, of Sylva, was killed instantly when his Mercury Sable ran off North River Road and struck two trees, according to Trooper D.L. Wood of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Wood said Holden was killed instantly despite wearing his seat belt and having the air bags deploy.

No one else was in the vehicle, but Wood said Holden's dog also died in the accident.

A passerby discovered the wreck around 4:25 a.m. Wood estimated it happened no earlier than 4 a.m.

In another wreck Sunday evening, Jackson County Commissioner Roberta Crawford was one of eight people transported to Harris Regional Hospital. As of Tuesday afternoon, she was listed in good condition. The wreck occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Greens Creek Road and U.S. 23-441.

Highway Patrolman B.S. Parker said Crawford's husband, Ted, was driving a 1999 Toyota 4-Runner that pulled from Greens Creek Road into the path of a southbound 2001 Chevrolet van. Ted Crawford, who was treated and released at Harris Regional, was charged with failure to yield, according to Parker.

The van was being driven by Cecil Dudley Jr. of Duncanville, Texas. He was treated and released at Harris Regional as were his passengers - Sall Dudley of Duncanville, Larry and Linda White of Havelock, and Frankie and Marion Antinore of Caledonia, N.Y.

Finally, a motorcycle accident last Thursday seriously injured a Florida woman, who was airlifted to Mission-St. Joseph's Hospital in Asheville. An accident at 2 p.m. on Cowee Mountain just inside Jackson County seriously injured Evelyn Mills Jawitz, 50, of Miami Beach.

A report filed by Trooper S.K. Bowers indicated she was northbound on her motorcycle when she ran off the road to the right and overturned coming to rest in the northbound lanes.

As of Tuesday afternoon, she was listed in serious but stable condition at Mission-St. Joseph's and was no longer in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

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