Truck driver charged in death of woman
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on September 29, 2005 2:00 PM
The driver of a pickup truck that was pulling a tobacco trailer that broke away and slammed into a car, killing the driver, has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle.
Herlindo Resendiz, 28, of Daly's Chapel Road, Seven Springs, was driving the pickup Sept. 9 on Drummersville Road, a Highway Patrol report said. The trailer became unhitched and struck the driver's door of an oncoming, northbound auto. The car ran off the right side of the road, struck a ditch and overturned several times, the report said.
The victim, 30-year-old Malena Aubrey Schimmel of 619 Drummersville Road, Seven Springs, was critically injured in the collision. She was airlifted to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville and died the next day.
Resendiz also was charged by Trooper J.L. Graham with failure to secure a load. Graham alleged that Resendiz had not hooked the chains properly to the trailer.
The registered owner of the pickup, Kenneth Wilson Rouse of Liddell Road, Seven Springs, posted a $2,500 cash bond, and Resendiz was released from custody.
The defendant's first court appearance was scheduled for Oct. 12 to determine his legal representation.