Two Die in Truck Crash
0
Votes

Two Die in Truck Crash

Teen driver charged.

Two Ashburn teen-age boys were killed late Saturday after they were thrown from the back of a pick-up truck.

The victims were identified as Stone Bridge High School students Nicholas J. Pendola, 16, and Anthony Cibelli-Mason, 17. With their deaths, Ashburn lost three teen-agers in a week. Donald Nicholas Shomaker, a Broad Run High School student, died of a gunshot wound last week.

The driver of the truck, a 15-year-old Ashburn boy, was critically injured but his condition has improved. He is scheduled to be released from the hospital later this week. The Sheriff's Office, who would not identify the teen-ager, said he had no learner's permit or driver's license. They said he was not wearing a safety belt and also was thrown from the truck.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Sheriff's Office announced the 15-year-old has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving. The charges follow a review by the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office of the results of the investigation into the accident by members of the Sheriff’s Office's Accident Reconstruction Unit.

Police said the unidentified teen-ager was driving a Ford F250 pick-up about 11 p.m. Saturday when he lost control on the north side of Ridgeway Drive east of Claiborne Parkway in the Broadlands area. Residents called the Sheriff's Office shortly after 11 p.m. after hearing the crash. Deputies found the teen-agers about 11:30 p.m.

Police said the victims were riding in the cargo area of the truck when they were thrown from it. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Jim Person, principal of Stone Bridge High School, described Pendola and Dibelli-Mason as the "kind of kids people liked to be around."

"They had an infectious ability to get along with people," he said. "That's why it's been so hard."

The students were active in all aspects of the Stone Bridge drama program, according to Person. He described them as the technical gurus. "If you had issues with lighting and sound, they knew the ins and outs," he said. "They kept things rolling. They were for so active, so full of life and enthusiasm for what they did."

"Nick" Shomaker's passion was basketball, said Muriel Heanue, an assistant principal at Broad Run High School. "Nick was not on the basketball team. But it's my understanding that he played pickup basketball with his friends out in the community," she said. "His death showed he sure had a lot of friends. The outpouring was so good to see."

<1b>— Andi Zentz