RALEIGH — The teen-age son of Franklin Freeman, Gov. Hunt's chief of staff, is reported in critical condition after the car in which he was riding with friends was involved in a collision Friday night.

Franklin Freeman III, the fourth of Freeman's six children, has been in a coma since the accident. Also in the accident was Hannah Bason, the 16-year-old daughter of George Bason, chair of the state's ABC Commission and head of the state Board of Ethics.

Police reports indicate that the Saab in which the teens were riding ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Millbrook and Town and Country roads. The Saab was driven by Christiana Fiorilli, 16. Bason and Fiorilli have been released from a local hospital.

Fiorilli has been charged with failure to stop at a stop sign.

The driver of the other car, Janice Heard, 43, was not seriously injured, according to reports.

The Heard car hit Fiorilli's car on the driver's side. Freeman had been sitting directly behind the driver; Bason was in the front passenger seat.

Prior to becoming Hunt's chief of staff, Freeman headed the Administrative Office of the Courts and was Secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Corrections.

His son is a freshman at Broughton High School.