Charges pending in LAV wreck

 This story was updated at 6:47 p.m.

Charges are pending against a driver who rear-ended a military vehicle in an early morning wreck on N.C. 24, area officials say.

Three Marines were driving a light armored vehicle (LAV) to local training areas when the wreck occurred, said 1st Lt. Philip Klay, a spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division.

The LAV was making a right turn into a tactical landing zone when a 1988 Buick, driven by Melissa Young, 24, of Hubert, rear-ended it, said Trooper J.D. Kirk, explaining that there were no brake marks or "indication that she braked at all."

"The lights on the LAV were working ... Why she didn't see it, I don't know," he said.

Alcohol was a factor in the wreck, Kirk said.

The LAV, which was driven by Pfc. Daniel Treadway, was the third in a convoy turning into the tactical zone. The first two had already turned, Kirk said.

The LAV's passengers, Lance Cpl. Eric Cruise and Capt. Jared Laurin, were not injured.

Young was transported to Onslow Memorial Hospital and was last known to be in serious condition, while Jennifer Hensley, 23, who sat in the front of the Buick, was airlifted to Pitt Memorial and was in intensive care, said Kirk. Teresa Mills, 20, who was in the back seat of the Buick was transported to Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital and was listed in serious condition.

All three women are of Riggs Road in Hubert.

Charges are pending against Young, Kirk said, and are dependent on the passengers' conditions and the toxicology report.

Contact Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461 or ahickey@freedomenc.com. Read the Lejeune Deployed blog at http://lejeunedeployed.freedomblogging.com.