POWELLSVILLE – Don’t drink and drive.

That message has been sent out millions of times by the North Carolina Highway Patrol (NCHP) and various other law enforcement agencies.

Apparently, some people still choose to ignore it.

A Virginia man was hospitalized Saturday night after wrecking his vehicle here in an apparent drunk driving escapade.

Richard Edwin Goode, 52, of Glen Allen, Virginia was traveling north on US 13 near Powellsville when his vehicle ran off the road and struck a culvert.

&uot;His vehicle then overturned, coming to rest on its right side in the ditch,&uot; stated First Sergeant Kenny Pitts with the NCHP Troop A District II.

Goode was driving a 2003 Pontiac passenger car.

There was no one else involved in the accident.

He was transported via Eastcare helicopter to Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

He has since been released.

Goode has been charged with driving while impaired, careless and reckless driving, open container, and no seat belt.

&uot;Not having his seat belt on was the reason he was so seriously injured,&uot; Pitts stated.

According to Pitts, the wreck makes the sixth in the district this year in which the driver was charged with an alcohol-related crime.