A 38-year-old Gloucester County man is dead after the minivan he was driving ran off Belroi Road and slammed into a tree Monday evening, in a crash that remains under investigation. Aaron Matthew Haywood was identified as the driver, who sustained fatal injuries in the wreck near the intersection of Belroi Road and Bellamy Lane.
Virginia State Police responded to the single-vehicle crash at approximately 5:33 p.m. on Monday, according to 13News Now. A preliminary investigation indicated that a 2014 Chrysler Town and Country ran off the roadway and struck a tree. Haywood, of Gloucester County, was pronounced dead, and authorities have since made next-of-kin notification.
Investigation Ongoing, Few Details Released
Police said the crash remains under investigation, and no additional details about road conditions or what may have caused the van to leave the roadway have been released. The station's report does not specify a cause for the departure from the road, and no further updates had been issued as of Tuesday.
The stretch of Belroi Road near Bellamy Lane has not previously appeared in comparable reporting reviewed for this story, but it joins a list of roads in Gloucester County where single-vehicle crashes into trees have proven fatal in recent years.
Pattern of Tree-Strike Crashes in Gloucester County
In June 2024, Virginia State Police investigated a fatal single-vehicle crash on Route 17 in which a 2014 Honda Civic went off the left side of the road and struck both a tree and a ditch in the median, according to River Country News. The driver, 43-year-old Bradley J. Perkins of Gloucester, died at the scene despite wearing a seatbelt.
Three years earlier, in June 2021, state police responded to a crash on Route 17 at Cannon Way after the driver of a 2003 Mazda Tribute SUV, identified as Mark Stuart Thomas, ran off the roadway and struck a tree, the outlet reported. Thomas suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to Walter Reed Hospital, where he later died.
A separate crash on Route 17 near T.C. Walker Road saw a vehicle run off the left side of the road, strike a tree in the median, and catch fire, as reported by WAVY. Virginia State Police were dispatched to that crash at approximately 3:45 a.m. The driver, 24-year-old Tyler M. Simmons, later died at a local hospital after suffering serious injuries.
State Tracks Crash Data
Statewide crash figures are compiled through the Virginia Traffic Crash Facts publication, a cooperative effort involving the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, per the agency's own description. The Traffic Records Management, Reporting and Analysis Division of the Virginia Highway Safety Office oversees the state's highway-safety traffic records, and the Virginia Department of Transportation maintains an online crash-location map that allows residents to review incidents by jurisdiction, including Gloucester County.
No cause has been determined for Monday's crash on Belroi Road, and Virginia State Police have not released further details as the investigation continues.
