Charges Filed in Fatal Traffic Accident

As most of our listeners are probably aware, 57-year-old Marlinton Insurance Agent Darren Jackson and his 30-year-old son Ryan Jackson died in a horrific traffic accident that occurred on Monday, April 10^th.

According to a Criminal Complaint filed on April 12^t by Corporal D.M. Brock of the West Virginia State Police:

At about 6:00 pm on Monday, April 10^th, Corporal Brock responded to the scene of a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of U.S. Route 219 and Rt. 150 – the Highland Scenic Highway. When he arrived he saw a 1984 Peterbilt Dump Truck overturned on top of a 2022 Chevrolet Bolt. The Chevrolet was crushed beneath the dump truck, and EMS crews on the scene had pronounced the driver, Darren Jackson, and the passenger, Ryan Jackson both to be deceased at the scene.

The driver of the dump truck, Tony Alan Garretson told the officer that he was unable to get the dump truck stopped and traveled through the stop sign. The vehicle overturned on top of the Chevrolet Bolt, which had been traveling on U.S. 219.

The charging document states that State Police Sergeant W.S. Snyder spoke with Mr. Garretson and while doing so, he noticed that Garretson displayed signs of impairment, including a faint odor of alcohol, pinpoint pupils and glassy eyes.

Garretson was transported to the Emergency Room at Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, where he consented to a blood draw.

On Wednesday, April 12^th, Corporal Brock, pursuant to a search warrant, discovered that the blood draw identified positive results for the presence of amphetamines and meth-amphetamines in Mr. Garretson’s blood at the time the blood was drawn.

On April 12^th, Corporal Brock charged Garretson with DUI Causing Death, and the Magistrate found probable cause and authorized an arrest warrant. The state statutory description of that charge on the charging document is: “Any person who drives a vehicle in this state while he or she is in an impaired state, and such impaired state proximately causes the death of any person.”

As you know, all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.

All of us at Allegheny Mountain Radio extend our deepest sympathies to the Jackson family for the loss of their loved ones.