Motorcyclist killed in collision with truck in Statesville
By Nina Mastandrea nmastandrea@statesville.com
Updated Sep 3, 2016
A two-vehicle crash left a 51-year-old motorcyclist dead Saturday afternoon.
Jackie Cheeks of Cleveland was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred at the intersection of Swann Road and Highway 64 around 1 p.m.
The driver of the other vehicle, John Marlowe, 46, was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to yield.
According to N.C. Highway Patrol reports, Cheeks was making a left turn from Swann Road onto Highway 64 on a 2010 Harley Davidson when Marlowe’s white Dodge 2500 pickup struck him.
Marlowe, of Bethlehem, was not injured in the crash.
Kim Hodson said she was across the road in the front lawn of her parent’s house on Highway 64 when she heard the crash. She and other family members were cleaning up debris from a crash that happened there Friday night, she said.
Hodson was an EMT for 16 years in Indiana, and she ran toward the two men to help Saturday, she said.
She said she first checked Cheeks, who was face down on an embankment near the edge of the road. By the time she reached the scene, Marlowe had gotten out of his truck, she said.
“I reached down to check (Cheeks' pulse) and there was nothing,” she said.
Hodson said she had never seen a wreck from that point of view.
“I just kept thinking that he is someone’s family member,” she said. “He’s not going back to his family tonight.”
Highway Patrol Trooper J.G. Barnes said that family members told him Cheeks was a firefighter with the Sheffield-Calahaln Volunteer Fire Department in Mocksville.
Iredell County EMS and Cool Spring Fire Department responded to the crash along with the Highway Patrol.
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Driver charged in Iredell Co. wreck that killed volunteer firefighter
Updated 9 mins ago
IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. -- A truck driver is facing charges after authorities said he caused a crash that killed a volunteer firefighter in Iredell County.
Police said the truck pulled out in front of a motorcycle around 1 p.m. Saturday on Mocksville Highway at the Swann Road intersection.
The motorcyclist, 51-year-old Jackie Cheek, died.
The truck driver, John Marlowe, is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to yield.
For nearly 14 years, Cheek served with the Sheffield Calahaln Volunteer Fire Department in Davie County.
On Sunday, fellow firefighters, along with servicemen and women led a near 40-mile procession, escorting their fallen brother.
"He was a good person all the way around," fire Chief David Beck said.
"If I asked him to do anything, I never had to worry about it," Beck said. "It was a done deal."
Cheeks led the department's junior firefighters programs, and often competed with their team in counties across the state.
Among his students, was his son Brandon, who also serves as a volunteer firefighter.
Beck said Cheeks elevated the program well beyond their original standards, adding at least six others students now serve among them.
Support for the department continued to pour in a day after the loss, with crews from Scotts Irish and Cools Springs taking over its calls for the day.
"It's a pleasure to me being the position I'm in to have the family we have to deal with everyday, and I'm not just saying Sheffield," Beck said.
"I'm saying the brotherhood."