By Martin Couch
Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, a one-vehicle accident on Northlake Road claimed the life of a Benton teen,[more] Drew Nicole Melton, 17, and injured four other passengers including three from Bryant and another from Benton, witnesses said.
The accident is being investigated by Arkansas State Police and the Bryant Police Department. The driver of the car was lifeflighted to Arkansas Childrens Hospital in Little Rock. It's reported that Hayden Lessenberry and Caleb Strain of Bryant were among those injured. Lessenberry reportedly suffered a broken shoulder. Strain suffered multiple injuries. No official word on the other two passengers.
The accident occurred near a hill top on Northlake Road in north Bryant near Springhill Elementary. The car jumped the hill top at a high rate of speed and went into a wooded area striking at least two trees and taking down a fence row witnesses said.
The car, a Hundai, was broken into three separate pieces with the engine ejected and resting some 50 yards further from the accident scene.
