Authorities charge driver in wreck at Bunn Lake

ZEBULON, N.C. — State troopers on Monday charged a driver and pulled a passenger from Bunn Lake after a one-car wreck near N.C. Highway 39.

Troopers found a four-door 1996 Chrysler sedan submerged in the lake, near Zebulon, early Sunday morning.

Witnesses originally identified the driver as Rafeal Abila, 25. On Monday, Capt. Everett Clendenin of the state Highway Patrol said that identification was incorrect. Clendenin said the driver was Emiliano Luna-Islas, 25, of Zebulon.

Luna-Islas was charged with felony hit and run, misdemeanor death and careless and reckless driving. His passenger, Jesus Celen Rios-Salvador, 30, of Zebulon, was found dead in the lake by authorities. They think he was thrown from the vehicle in the crash.