State Police investigating two fatal Surry crashes
Published 9:54 am Monday, May 15, 2023
Two fatal vehicle crashes in Surry County, one involving alcohol, occurred roughly an hour apart on Sunday.
The first, a two-vehicle crash, occurred at approximately 8:34 p.m. at Routes 31 and 10 near the Surry Marketplace.
Virginia State Police say 65-year-old Rhonda Green of Surry County was traveling east on Route 10 in a 2018 Nissan Altima when she allegedly failed to yield at the intersection and turned left into the path of a 2014 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle. The motorcyclist, 40-year-old Christopher Stuart Downey of Waverly, was thrown from his vehicle and later died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Green suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk.
The second crash occurred at approximately 9:35 p.m. and involved a single vehicle.
Police say 20-year-old Siam Jasarino Stolz of Henrico County was traveling north on Clubhouse Road near the former Blackwater Sportsman Club outside Dendron when she allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign, drove her 2019 Dodge Charger through the intersection with Blackwater Road, and ran off the road into a tree. The head-on crash engulfed Stolz’s vehicle in flames.
While Stolz and an adult male front-seat passenger were able to exit, the back-seat passenger, 40-year-old John Joseph Bennet Jr. of Poquoson, was unable to exit and died at the scene.
Police say alcohol was involved in Stolz’s crash. She was transported to a hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, and her front-seat passenger did not suffer injuries.
A State Police news release states charges against Stolz are pending based on a review by Surry County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Green’s crash, according to police, will also be presented to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for review and for charges to be placed.
Both incidents remain under investigation.