Police say excessive speed caused fatal crash
Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh, state police spokesman, said James K. Harrington, 54, will be arrested upon his release from Peninsula Regional Medical Center, where he is being treated for the injuries he sustained in the crash.
Whitmarsh said that just before 3 p.m., Huff was traveling at a very low rate of speed on Sand Hill Road, just south of Huff Road, as he prepared to turn into a private driveway.
Harrington’s vehicle was directly behind Huff, and when his truck rear-ended the Silverado, the impact forced both vehicles to slide sideways off the east edge of the roadway where they both overturned. Witnesses said Harrington’s vehicle rolled back onto its tires, but Huff’s landed on its roof.
Ann Bamforth lives next to the home where Huff had planned to drop off his son Joshua, 18, who was a front-seat passenger. Bamforth’s son and his family live in that residence.
Bamforth was in her second-floor computer room when she heard noise from the collision. “I heard the impact,” she said, “and I saw pieces of vehicles flying everywhere – in front of my second-story window. I saw Mr. Huff’s vehicle tumbling.”
Bamforth immediately called 911, and then she went outside to see if she could help. “I ran to the other vehicle, because I thought it belonged to my neighbor,” she said.
“Hank saved his son,” said Jeri Huff, Hank’s sister. “While the car was flipping, a neighbor could see Hank holding his son; he reached out and grabbed him.”
That neighbor had been traveling directly behind Harrington and saw the events unfold. She pulled over to the side of the road, exited her car and went to Harrington’s truck, which was on fire.
While she struggled to get Harrington’s passenger out of the car, another Good Samaritan arrived and used a fire extinguisher to douse the fire, said a Huff family member.
Whitmarsh said neither of the Huffs was wearing seat belts. Josh was able to exit the truck on his own, but his father was trapped and seriously injured. A witness reported Hank Huff’s last act was to push his son out of the truck.
“Josh tried frantically to get his dad out of the truck, but he couldn’t,” said Carole Seiber, a family spokeswoman.
Family members said a third Good Samaritan who lived nearby approached Huff’s truck, took Hank Huff’s hand, talked to him and prayed with him until he took his final breath at 3:01 p.m.
“It was a horrific crash,” said Bamforth.
Family members confirmed the Huffs had just been to visit Josh’s grandparents, and Josh was being dropped off at Bamforth’s grandson’s house next door to spend time with his friend.
Whitmarsh was not able to release the nature of Harrington’s injuries but said they were not life threatening. Harrington’s passenger - Daniel D. Gambrell, 42, of Millsboro - was not wearing a seat belt. He sustained serious internal injuries and was admitted to Beebe Medical Center. Josh was not injured, said Whitmarsh.
Investigators from the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit are still investigating the case.
Because they determined excessive speed was a contributing factor, they were able to get a warrant to charge Harrington with felony vehicular homicide and misdemeanor vehicular assault.
Results are pending from tests to determine whether alcohol or drugs were also a factor.
Resident to ask DelDOT for speed reduction, signs
Ann Bamforth, who witnessed a fatal crash near her home Friday, Feb. 20, is planning to petition the Delaware Department of Transportation for better signage and perhaps a reduced speed zone on Sand Hill Road between Wilson Road and Huff Road, Georgetown.
Bamforth said the truck that rear-ended another truck in front of her home was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed. That is nothing unusual, she said. “The vehicles come down this road so fast,” said Bamforth.
“I don’t go out and get my mail until quiet time, because it’s like taking your life in your hands.” She said she is always worried when she sees her grandchildren outside playing. “It’s ridiculous.”
Bamforth said there are 14 children on Sand Hill Road between Wilson Road and Huff Road. There are no speed signs near her house, and there are no signs warning motorists of children possibly at play in the area.
She has been concerned for years, she said, but now that a fatal crash has occurred, she intends to ask the transportation department to take action as soon as possible.
