Crash kills 23-year-old Leesburg restaurant employee
By Jana Wagoner
A 23-year-old woman died July 2 in a car crash that snarled U.S. 15 and nearby roads for hours.
Stephanie R. Wilhelmi, of Amissville, was killed in the fiery 6 a.m. collision with a tractor trailer.
Meanwhile, part of U.S. 15 near U.S. 50 was closed until just past noon, said Sgt. Scott Todd with the Loudoun division of the Virginia State Police.
Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said the rerouting of traffic through the area affected other major roads like U.S. 50 and secondary roads as well.
“Obviously, anytime you have a primary road that's shut down during rush hour, it's going to create havoc in the county,” he said.
That morning, Wilhelmi was driving a 2000 Toyota Forerunner southbound when she drove off the right side of U.S. 15 just south of Tamworth Farm Lane.
She then over-corrected and drove into the northbound lane into the path of the truck, a 2000 Freightliner, driven by Bernard J. Sprouse, 64, of Madison Heights, Todd said.
The truck, which was hauling lumber, hit the passenger side of Wilhelmi's sport utility vehicle. She died at the scene. Sprouse was treated at a hospital and released.
Todd said Wilhelmi ran off the road at the crest of a hill, so when Sprouse got there, “he didn't even have time to hit the brakes.”
Both vehicles caught on fire and were totaled, Todd said.
Troxell compared the effect of the crash on the region to one that happened last year in Leesburg when a tractor-trailer knocked down power lines on the Route 7 bypass. The road was closed and traffic backed up all through the town for several hours.
Wilhelmi was an employee at TGI Fridays restaurant in Leesburg, and Sprouse is a truck driver for Jamerson Brothers Trucking in Appomattox, Todd said.
The crash, which was worked by Trooper Tony Clark, is still under investigation.
Wilhelmi's visitation, funeral services and burial are planned for July 9-11 at Moser Funeral Home in Warrenton and Trinity Memorial Gardens in Farmville.