A local man fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle Thursday afternoon causing a three-car collision on East Washington St. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

Suffolk Police arrived at the intersection of East Washington and Sixth streets to find that 55-year old Charlie E. Brooks, of the 900 block of Truman Road, was headed west toward Downtown Suffolk when the accident took place around 2:55 p.m.

The second driver, Gloria Marie Barnes, 48, was stopped at the red light at the intersection at Sixth Street. The third vehicle, driven by Jerry Steward, 38, was also stopped for the red light on East Washington Street.

According to Police Officer C.R. &uot;Chuck&uot; Terrell, the 1989 Dodge pickup driven by Brooks crashed into Barnes causing her 1987 Honda to spin around and strike the Ford driven by Steward.

Barnes said she was strapped in with her seatbelt and that two grandchildren, ages 5 months and 2 years old, were strapped in their car seats. None of them sustained injuries, but Barnes said it was a minor miracle.

&uot;I got hit on the driver’s side front door and I am thankful that the truck didn’t hit the car where the babies were in the back seat,&uot; she said. &uot;Those car seats probably saved them from being injured because it (accident) sure shook me up and I’m really sore from it. My oldest daughter came to the accident to get us and she took the grandbabies to Obici’s emergency room to have them checked out. They don’t have any injuries but they were really shaken up.&uot;

Steward, of the 600 block of Matthews Court, sustained only $200 in damages to his 1995 Ford, and the pickup driven by Brooks has approximately $1,000 in damages. The Honda Prelude driven by Barnes sustained $5,000 in damages according to police.

Brooks was charged with failure to stop at the red light.