Police think alcohol played role in violent crash that left man dead

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police suspect alcohol may have played a role in a crash that left a man dead late Sunday night in northwest Charlotte.

[IMAGES: 1 dead in crash on Brookshire Boulevard]

Just after 11 p.m., officers were called to the scene of the single-car crash on Brookshire Boulevard, between Hovis Road and Lawton Road.

Police said the driver of a 2006 Honda Civic veered off the road and down an embankment. The driver, identified as Calvin Smartt III, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives said Smartt was driving outbound on Brookshire Boulevard at a high rate of speed and crossed the median into the oncoming lanes before crashing into the embankment where the car hit a concrete barrier and a fence.

Police said Smartt, 32, was thrown from the vehicle during the wreck.

Nobody else was in the car.

Investigators told Channel 9 alcohol is believed to be a factor in the wreck, and that Smartt was not wearing a seat belt.

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