Speeding crackdown in Spring Lake can't prevent fatal wreck

The fatal collision was the latest incident in which construction vehicles were found to be speeding through town, Spring Lake Police Chief Troy McDuffie said.

"They drive pretty fast – faster than the speed limit," local resident Hannah Kroll said. "It’s caused a lot of us to kind of question why they’re driving that fast."

Trucks for R.E. Goodson Construction, a Darlington, S.C.-based firm that is building a bridge on the Interstate 295 Fayetteville Loop, barrel up Bragg Boulevard and N.C. Highway 210 to a quarry north of Spring Lake, McDuffie said.

On Oct. 3, a dump truck driven by Cleveland Glenn was speeding north on N.C. 210 and slammed into Toyota Sienna minivan that was leaving the Cedar Wood Shopping Center, police said. The dump truck then hit a BMW waiting at the stop light, and the impact pushed the BMW into the path of an Oldsmobile Alero, police said.

The driver of the Sienna minivan, Lashanda Denise Mann-Pendergraft, 35, of Cameron, died of her injuries, police said. Four children in the minivan were treated at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and released.

No other injuries were reported.

Glenn, 57, of 1004 Sanderfer Road in Bunnlevel, was charged late Monday with misdemeanor death by vehicle, failure to stop for a red light, failure to reduce speed and careless and reckless driving. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

"Before this incident, we had strict enforcement," McDuffie said, noting that his officers and North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers have ticketed several of Goodson's drivers and have warned the company about the speed at which the trucks cut through Spring Lake.

Goodson officials couldn't be reached Tuesday for comment.

Kroll said she hopes the company gets the message that its drivers need to exercise more caution with the traffic in the area.

"Spring Lake is a busy area. Fayetteville is a busy area. We have a lot of pedestrians here," she said.