2 killed, including 5-year-old, after car hits golf cart

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) - Two people are dead after a car hit a golf cart full of people in North Carolina, authorities said.

The crash took place late Monday night in Iredell County. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, five people were in the golf cart.

“Last night around 9:40 p.m., the Highway Patrol and other first responders were called to this area for a motor vehicle crash involving a passenger car and a golf cart,” said Trooper Jeffrey Swagger of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. “Troopers arrived to find multiple injured. Unfortunately, two of those passengers on the golf cart were deceased and there were multiple transported to the hospital.”

As it was going down the road, a car driving in the opposite direction crossed the center line, hitting the cart, troopers said.

The driver of the golf cart, 39-year-old Michael Shane Marlowe, and a 5-year-old passenger, Bentley Marlowe, were identified by Highway Patrol troopers as the two victims killed in the crash, WBTV reports.

Authorities said the four other passengers were ages 2, 13, 16, and 26. They were taken by medical helicopters to hospitals in Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

The driver of the 2009 Honda Accord, 23-year-old Austin Ray Harmon, was arrested and charged with driving while impaired, two counts of felony death by vehicle and three counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, according to the Highway Patrol. His bond was set at $250,000.

“Impaired driving is dangerous for not only the driver but also everyone else on the highway, and then golf carts are a popular pastime for folks to get out and enjoy their neighborhoods and community, but they can be dangerous when golf carts and cars occupy the same space, that can be dangerous for the occupants of the golf carts for sure,” Swagger said.

That investigation is ongoing.

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