Troopers say driver was speeding before fatal Catawba Co. wreck

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — A Catawba County deputy was searching for a speeding car and found it wrecked on the side of a road.
 
The deputy said the truck flew by him earlier and was going so fast, he couldn't keep up.
 
A witness told Eyewitness News the car was heading straight for his house when it careened out of control, killing the driver.
 
The driver of this truck, David Haynes II, 26, already had convictions for DWI and speeding to elude police.
    
Troopers said he sped right Thursday night by a Catawba County deputy and reached speeds of 90 mph.
 
They said Hynes lost control as he approached the Lincoln County line near vale.
  
The truck tore through Bobby Watts' front lawn on a path right for his house.
 
"Right in this area here is where he turned out enough to keep from going through our house," he said.
    
The truck hit a light pole splitting it in two.
 
"The other section went that far out there," Watts said.
 
His wife called 911.
       
Watts waited for the dust around the truck to settle.  Then he cautiously walked over and looked inside.
 
"The driver wasn't moving or anything.  I could hear the passenger gasping for air," he said.
 
Haynes died on the scene. His passenger, 24-year-old Robert Honeycutt, was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.
 
The men are from Connelly Springs.
     
Troopers said the men were not wearing seat belts and they suspect alcohol was involved.
     
The deputy who spotted the speeding truck drove by a couple of minutes after the crash.
      
He had heard the truck was in the area.
 
"I told him it's right here," Watts said.
         
There was little any of them could do to help the two men.

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