EAST ARCADIA — A two-vehicle headon collision on N.C. 87 near East Arcadia School on Friday claimed the life of a Brunswick County man on Friday, Jan. 22.  

Walter Dewey Ausban, 55, of 67 North Shore Dr., Boiling Spring Lakes, was pronounced dead at the scene by Bladen County Assistant Coroner Kenneth Clark at 5:23 p.m.

According to Clark, “it appears as though Ausban went to sleep at the wheel. He was returning home after attending the visitation rites of his mother in St. Pauls.”

According to the report of Highway Patrolman J.M. Kinlaw, Ausban was traveling east on N.C. 87 when the Lexus he was driving crossed the center line and crashed into a 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck being driven by Michael Inman, 16, of Tar Heel. After the impact, Ausban’s vehicle came to rest in the middle of the highway, facing south.

The pickup traveled off the right shoulder upon impact, and came to rest in a resident’s yard, north of N.C. 87, after striking a mailbox.  

Inman was transported to Bladen County Hospital and later released.