Man injured in East Elk Avenue wreck

By Abby Morris
Star Staff
amorris@starhq.com

A two-vehicle accident on East Elk Avenue sent one man to the hospital with neck and back injuries after the vehicle he was driving struck another vehicle while he was attempting to pull from a parking lot onto the roadway.
Devin E. Pierce, 35, 159 Roy Bowers Road, was taken to the Veteran's Administration Hospital by emergency personnel from the Carter County Rescue Squad for treatment of his injuries.
Emergency workers had to extricate Pierce from his vehicle, a 1996 white Geo Metro, by removing the car's roof. He was then placed on a back board and onto a stretcher.
The vehicle driven by Pierce struck a 1989 Chrysler New Yorker driven by Ina V Elliott, 82, 115 Tokibe Lane. She was uninjured in the accident.
According to Merritt, the front driver's side portion of the Geo Metro impacted with the front passenger side of the Chrysler after Pierce crossed both westbound lanes of traffic on East Elk Avenue and struck Elliott's vehicle, which was in the turning lane.
"He was attempting to make a left hand turn out of the Family Dollar parking lot into the east bound lanes of traffic (of East Elk Avenue)," Merritt said. "Traffic had stopped in at least one lane and had motioned him on and he pulled out striking the other vehicle.
"She was in the turning lane preparing to make a left hand turn onto Sycamore Street. When he pulled around the stopped traffic he had no way of seeing her and she had no way of seeing him."
Pierce was charged with second offense DUI and failure to yield as a result of the accident. Further information on his condition was unavailable Tuesday evening.