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ZEBULON - (January 2, 2023) Pike County Sheriff's deputies responded to a vehicle collision on Highway 19 at Pike Plaza yesterday at 4:48 p.m. (Update from 1.3.24 is at the bottom of the page.)

A van was traveling southbound when a Ford Ranger pickup truck failed to yield while attempting to enter Highway 19. A passenger in the van, Brent Jones, 47 years of age, succumbed to his injuries and has died as a result of the collision.

The driver of the Ford Ranger, Ronald Ard, 56 years of age, has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, vehicular homicide, serious injury by a motor vehicle, failure to yield, and failure to stop at a stop sign.

Ard is currently incarcerated at the Pike County jail and is awaiting a bond hearing.

UPDATE 1.3.24:

Ronald Earl Ard was changed with Homocide by Vehicle 1st Degree which is a felony based on an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol that occurred on January 1, 2024 after Ard ran a stop sign coming out of Pike Plaza in his 2020 Ford Ranger which caused an accident with a 2005 Chrysler Town and County in which Brent Jones lost his life. Ard was also charged with Serious Injury by Vehicle, Failure to Yield, and Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol.

A bond hearing was held on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 at 3 p.m. in which the Magistrate Court of Pike County based bond at $50,000 for the charge of Vehicular Homocide (1st Degree), $50,000 for the charge of Serious Injury by Vehicle, and $1,000 each for the charges of Failure to Yield (to a stop sign) and DUI-Alcohol. The total base amount of the bond is $102,000.

Pike County Times was advised that Ard was in the process of bonding out of the Pike County Jail around 5 p.m. today.