Fredericksburg Man Arrested In Fatal Culpeper Crash: Police

CULPEPER COUNTY, VA — A Fredericksburg man wanted for questioning in a fatal Culpeper County crash was arrested by state police over the weekend. Earl J. Nicholson Jr., 38, was charged with one felony count of hit and run and is being held without bond at the Culpeper Regional Jail.

Virginia State Police are still investigating the fatal two-vehicle crash that occurred at 12:20 a.m. Nov. 15 on Sperryville Pike (Route 522), a few hundred feet north of Gibson Mill Road in Culpeper County. According to police, a 2000 Ford Explorer was traveling north on Route 522 when the driver lost control, crossed the center line into the southbound travel lane and collided head-on with a 2007 Saturn Ion that was in the southbound turning lane.

The driver of the Saturn, Pamela J. Mozingo, 54, of Culpeper, died at the scene. Mozingo was not wearing a seatbelt. Passengers in the Saturn, Mark L. Southerland, 27, and Joe B. Southerland, 55, both of Culpeper, were flown to UVA Medical Center for treatment of life-threatening injuries. Neither passenger was wearing a seatbelt.

Nicholson, the driver of the Ford, suffered serious injuries and was transported from the scene; however, police said Nicholson was never admitted to the hospital. He allegedly walked away as soon as the ambulance he was riding in arrived at the hospital.

Nicholson was located at an Orange County residence in Unionville. He was taken to UVA Medical Center and arrested without further incident.

Additional charges against Nicholson are pending. The crash remains under investigation.