BENCH TO BE ERECTED IN MEMORY OF VIRGINIA MCALISTER

By Jon Mayhew

LINCOLNTON -- Virginia Dellinger McAlister, the woman who was struck and killed in downtown Lincolnton several weeks ago, loved to walk on the Marcia Cloninger Rail Trail.

She loved walking the trail so much, in fact, the 78-year-old McAlister once suggested that a bench be placed in an area of the trail by her church, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church.

Thursday night, Lincolnton City Council made the late McAlister's dream become a reality. They gave their OK to the McAlister and Biggerstaff families working with city staff to put a bench on the grassy area of the trail near the church.

Tonya Craig, sister of Tim Biggerstaff, made the request before council.

"We'd like to place a bench there in honor and memory of Virginia," said Craig. "She was worried because on that portion of the trail, there wasn't any place to sit."

City attorney Jeff Emroy added there have been several requests for a bench to be placed in that area.

McAlister was walking across East Main Street from the tax office to the Chamber of Commerce on a Monday around 7 a.m. when she was grazed by a pickup driven by 47-year-old Timothy Scott Biggerstaff of Lawndale.

Police said neither person saw the other. McAlister was taken to Gaston Memorial Hospital where she later died. Biggerstaff was later hospitalized for having a seizure related to the stress of the incident. Friends of Biggerstaff told The Carolina Scoop he was extremely distraught by the incident, despite witness statements that McAlister herself told Biggerstaff that "(she) forgave him."

Biggerstaff was initially cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian and police were consulting with the District Attorney on the possibility of charges of misdemeanor death by vehicle. However, because the McAlister family didn't want to press charges against Biggerstaff, police sources told The Carolina Scoop a warrant for Biggerstaff's arrest was rescinded.

Since McAlister's death, there have been two other incidents of pedestrians being struck in Lincolnton. The latest saw a 33-year-old being airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte when she crossed in front of traffic on Riverside Drive in front of the Southern Convenience Store. The woman is expected to be OK.