4 in Belmont family killed as driver going 100+ mph causes I-485 wrecks, trooper says
Five people were killed, including four members of a Belmont family, in a series of crashes on Interstate 485 Friday night started by a driver speeding at over 100 mph, authorities said.
Trooper Adolfo Lopez-Alcedo of the State Highway Patrol was critically injured Saturday morning after going to the scene to shut down the highway again to further investigate the wreck, according to the State Highway Patrol.
Matthew and Andrea Obester and their daughters, Violet, 9 , and Elizabeth, 12, were killed in one of the collisions, Matthew Obester’s mother, Lynn Sherrill, told the Observer.
The names of those killed and injured will be released once troopers complete their investigation and make their report public, possibly on Monday, Trooper Ray Pierce told The Charlotte Observer.
The speeding driver began the chain of wrecks at about 7:50 p.m. after hitting a box truck whose driver was traveling on the I-485 Outer Loop near the W.T. Harris Boulevard exit in north Charlotte, according to the trooper. The speeding driver was trying to pass the truck, Pierce said.
The box truck driver lost control. veered off the left shoulder, into the median and through cable barriers before heading into oncoming traffic on the I-485 Inner Loop, Pierce said.
The box truck driver hit a car after striking an SUV in which a man and his wife and two of their children were riding, according to the trooper.
All four family members in the SUV and an occupant of the car were pronounced dead at the scene, Pierce said. The other person in the car remained hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Saturday, Pierce said.
The box truck driver was hospitalized with a broken arm, broken wrist and several broken ribs, the trooper said.
The driver who faces speeding and other charges suffered a broken neck and was in stable condition at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte Saturday, Pierce said.
Lopez-Alcedo, the trooper in critical condition, was hit about 7:45 a.m. Saturday on the I-485 Outer Loop, Pierce said. Troopers returned to the scene Saturday morning to deploy a drone to photograph the scene and to conduct other parts of the investigation, Pierce said.
A car driver hit the trooper’s car, which then hit the trooper, according to Pierce. That wreck is under investigation, and it was not immediately known if charges would be filed, he said.
“He started slowing traffic down,” Pierce told WBTV of his fellow trooper. “He exited his patrol vehicle, was in the process of shutting down lanes of travel when his vehicle was struck by a motor vehicle. His patrol vehicle then struck him at a high rate of speed.”
“Our Patrol family is hurting with the devastating news of Trooper Lopez’s injury, his family needs our prayers for what is undoubtedly an uphill fight,” Col. Glenn McNeill Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol, said in a news release Saturday. “We will stand alongside our brother and his precious family in the hours and days to come and maintain hope that there will be a full recovery for this devoted public servant.”
Lopez-Alcedo, assigned to Troop H, District 5 in Mecklenburg County, is a two-year veteran of the State Highway Patrol.
Lynn Sherrill of Lake Wylie, the mother of Matt Obester, told the Observer he had just started a new construction job last week and his wife, Andrea, ran Angel Ark animal rescue.
Daughter Elizabeth, known as Sissy, was a rising sixth-grader. “She was excited to have to ride the bus to school next year,” Sherrill said.
She had attended North Belmont Elementary, where her sister, Violet, was a rising third-grader.
The girls loved horseback riding with their grandmother. They enjoyed animals and being outside in nature.
Matt Obester was learning to forge knives, and Andrea was an artist.
Sherrill said the family was heading out of town to pick up a new custom wedding band for Andrea after 16 years together and to visit friends.
Their 14-year-old son, who was not on the trip, is with a relative. A GoFundMe page has been set up for him.
“It can’t be real. It’s just not real yet,” Sherrill said.
This story was originally published July 4, 2020 at 1:22 PM.