A Durham police corporal has been fired after authorities said he ran a red light in Harnett County last month, causing a crash that killed the driver of a church van. Joseph King, who had worked for the Durham Police Department since 2010, was terminated effective Wednesday.
King was a corporal assigned to the department's Uniform Patrol Bureau, according to cbs17.com, which reported his termination was confirmed by the department Wednesday. The crash happened Oct. 17 at the intersection of Old Stage Road and NC 210, where a vehicle traveling south on Old Stage Road failed to stop at a red light and struck a second vehicle heading east on NC 210. Highway patrol identified King as the driver of that car, the outlet reported.
The van's driver, 67-year-old Justin Shane Heath of Mount Olive, was pronounced dead at the scene, per the same report. Accounts of the crash's timing and toll differ: the station's report put the collision at around 7:40 p.m., while WRAL reported it happened around 9:45 p.m. and identified King as 52 and from Benson, driving a Honda Civic.
Conflicting Accounts of Injuries
Reports also diverge on how many people were hurt. The cbs17.com article said six passengers in the van were taken to WakeMed in Raleigh for treatment, while ABC11 reported that one person was killed and eight others were injured in the crash. Neither figure has been reconciled in the available reporting.
WRAL reported that the State Highway Patrol said impairment was not a factor in the crash. King was reported to have been arrested and charged, though the evidence does not establish how the case has since proceeded in court.
Department Review Underway
Durham Police Chief Stephanie Mardis said King had been an employee of the department since 2010 and stated that the department would be conducting its own internal review, according to cbs17.com. As first reported by WRAL, King's firing came roughly two and a half weeks after the fatal crash, as the department moved to separate him from the force following the Harnett County incident.
