A man out of Southwestern Virginia was air-lifted to a trauma center after being hit by an SUV on Monday.

 

Wise County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call of a crash at around 9:30 AM. Upon their arrival, officers found a BMW SUV, a side-by-side, and a passenger truck owned by the Town of Appalachia. First responders from the Appalachia Fire Department are said to have assisted the man and the two other drivers who were involved.

 

An initial investigation uncovered that Lakota Gibson, of Big Stone Gap, was in the driver’s seat of the parked SUV as it sat facing the wrong way on West Main Street in Appalachia. A man in a side-by-side stopped to check on the driver, standing between the SUV and his side-by-side. The SUV is then said to have suddenly accelerated, hitting the man in the process. The side-by-side was pushed backwards and into the truck owned by the Town of Appalachia. The man, who has yet to be identified, was flown to a trauma center.

 

Gibson is said to have suffered from a medical emergency, which allegedly caused the crash.

 

Gibson was initially charged with reckless driving for failure to maintain control. This investigation is still ongoing.