Staff report
CHINA GROVE ó An 83-year-old Neelytown Road resident died Monday night after he was struck by a car on U.S. 29.
Theodore Nehemiah Harding was apparently having trouble with a windshield wiper and pulled off U.S. 29 on the northbound side of Mount Hope Road. A portion of a wiper was found in the front of the truck.
His small truck became stuck on the wet shoulder. Witnesses heard him trying to get the truck free of the mud.
Hard of hearing, Harding didn’t have a cell phone.
Officials believe Harding headed across the four-lane road to a grandson’s house on nearby Corriher Gravel Road.
Harding was attempting to cross the highway when he was struck by a southbound car.
Trooper Bradley P. Potts of the N.C. Highway Patrol said the 2005 Toyota Avalon was driven by Deborah Shannon Hickman, 37, 1013 Lauren Glenn Drive, China Grove.
Harding became lodged in the passenger’s side of the windshield. Bostian Heights firefighters worked to support Harding while using a glass saw to cut him out of the windshield. Harding was transported to Rowan Regional Medical Center, where he died at 7:31 p.m.
A Rowan EMS unit was called to assist Hickman, who was described as very shaken, but she was not transported.
Potts said Hickman never saw Harding, who was wearing dark clothing. “The road was wet, it was misting, she had just come over a small hill … he was in her lane.”
Potts said he spoke with the District Attorney’s office, and no charges will be filed.