State police are investigating a three-vehicle crash in which two people died and another was seriously injured in Lancaster County.
Just after 6:50 p.m. Sunday, state police responded to a crash on the Robert O. Norris Jr. Bridge, a 1.9-mile bridge over the Rappahannock River between the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. The bridge, which takes Route 3 traffic between Lancaster and Middlesex counties, has two travel lanes and no real shoulders.
The investigation revealed a 2014 Mercedes-Benz ML350 SUV, driven by 30-year-old Jesse David Foster, of White Stone, was traveling west on Route 3 at a high rate of speed, according to police. Foster tried to pass another vehicle in the eastbound lane, sideswiping a 2024 Subaru Outback before hitting a 2014 Ford Fusion head-on, according to a release.
Foster’s passenger, 42-year-old Crystal Michelle Lyles, also of White Stone, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene, police said.
Police said the driver of the Ford Fusion, 53-year-old Ernesto Santiago of Hampton, also died.
Foster was flown to a hospital. The driver of the Subaru, a 27-year-old from Richmond, was not injured, according to police.
State police determined that none of the people in the Mercedes-Benz or Ford Fusion were wearing seatbelts. Speed and alcohol are considered major contributing factors, police said.
The bridge, built in 1957 and slated for reconstruction in 2028, according to a recent announcement from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, sustained damage from the crash and resulting fire. The Virginia Department of Transportation closed the eastbound lanes while emergency inspections are conducted, according to the release.
