WARM SPRINGS — A Bath County woman died Wednesday in an accident at her residence near Warm Springs.
Sheriff Robert Plecker said Sarah Sutton died after she was pinned between her vehicle and a utility pole.
Plecker said icy conditions were a contributing factor in the accident, which was initially reported to his office at approximately 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Sutton’s residence was located just off of U.S. Route 220, approximately four miles north of Warm Springs.
The sheriff said Sutton’s vehicle apparently slid backward on ice as she headed up her driveway.
The driver’s side door on the vehicle was ajar, indicating that Sutton may have opened it and was looking behind her as she attempted to correct the vehicle from its skid.
The vehicle slid off the driveway. Sutton was pinned between the vehicle and the utility pole.
“We think it suffocated her,” said Plecker, in noting that sheriff’s personnel arrived at the scene within five minutes after the accident was reported.
“It took us about an hour to get her out of there,” he said.
First responders from Hot Springs and Millboro were on the scene.
Sutton was transported to Bath Community Hospital in Hot Springs, where she was pronounced dead at approximately 7:30 p.m.
“This is just a tragic thing,” Plecker said. “Ms. Sutton was a really nice lady. She worked at the Omni Homestead and she hadn’t been here for very long. She hadn’t lived at that residence for very long. It’s just a real tragedy for her family and our community.”
Sutton was probably in her 40s, the sheriff said.
The accident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office and Virginia State Police.
