Grottoes woman struck Friday dies over weekend

By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 27, 2008

A 40-year-old Grottoes seriously injured Friday in a three-car accident on Route 340 died over the weekend, police said. The Staunton man police say caused the accident has been charged with DUI.
Cheryl Lynn Sheaves was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center Friday after the 7:20 a.m. wreck, and succumbed to her injuries sometime the following day, said Sgt. David Cooper of the Virginia State Police.
Jeremy Rasnake, 21, of Staunton, was driving a blue 1988 Ford Bronco north on Route 340 between Old White Hill Road and Kill Deer Lane. when he dozed off and his vehicle drifted across the center line, colliding head-on with Sheave’s silver 1994 Ford Thunderbird, Virginia State Police Sgt. Frank Pyanoe said.
The Bronco rolled over and slammed roof-first into a tree, spinning nearly 360 degrees before coming to a rest on its side, Pyanoe said. The Thunderbird careened off the right side of the road into a shallow ditch.
Carl Simmons, 44, of Glasgow, driving south in a green, 1999 Ford Escort, swerved his car off the right side of the road in an attempt to avoid the wreckage, swiped a tree and rear-ended the Thunderbird, Pyanoe said.
Rasnake and Simmons both were transported to Augusta Medical Center with injuries and released later in the day, a nurse said.
Police on the scene of the accident were not initially aware that alcohol had been involved, but a state trooper later determined Rasnake was under the influence after interviewing him at the hospital, Pyanoe said. Rasnake has been charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license and driving without a seatbelt, Pyanoe said.
It is too soon to know what further charges, if any, will be brought against Rasnake, Cooper said.