Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

A Buick LeSabre collided with a New River Valley Regional Jail van, sending eight people to the hospital.

DUBLIN — Six New River Valley Regional Jail inmates were injured today when the van they were riding in — while restrained by handcuffs and leg irons — T-boned a car that apparently pulled out in front of it.

The 1989 Buick LeSabre pulled out of Hatcher Road about 3:45 p.m. into the path of the van, which was northbound on U.S. 11, said 1st Sgt. Mike Honaker of the Virginia State Police.

The impact crushed the driver’s side of the LeSabre, trapping its driver. He was flown to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with injuries that Honaker described as life-threatening.

Troopers aren't naming the car’s driver or his female passenger because both are younger than 18.

The girl was taken to Pulaski Community Hospital with serious injuries, Honaker said.

He said the cause of the crash was unclear this evening because troopers hadn’t been able to talk with either of the teens.

Hatcher Road eventually connects with Pulaski County High School and is used as a cut-through to U.S. 11. Honaker said it was unclear if the teens are students at the school.

The driver of the van, Corrections Officer Travis Hamilton, 28, of Dublin, apparently saw the LeSabre pulling out and unsuccessfully tried to avoid it, Honaker said. Hamilton was wearing his seat belt and his bullet-resistant vest and his air bag deployed, Honaker said. He was not hurt.

After colliding with the LeSabre, the van struck a tree in the highway’s median. The van is equipped with seat belts but it remains unclear whether the inmates were wearing them.

Of the six inmates, who were seated on benches on the sides of the van, one of them, Christopher Smith, was taken to Carilion New River Valley Medical Center with serious injuries and later flown to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, police said. The other five had minor injuries and were taken to. Pulaski Community Hospital, according to police.

Honaker identified the other five inmates as Anthony Harman, Ramon Ibarra, Luke Cook and Adrian Martinez. Ages for the men were unavailable.

According to online court records, Smith and Harman are from Pulaski, Raines from Alderson, W.Va., Cook from Draper and Martinez from Hialeah Gardens, Fla. They are incarcerated on charges ranging from obtaining money by false pretenses to assault on an officer, according to online court records.

The van had left the Pulaski County courthouse and was on its way back to the jail, Honaker said.

Both northbound lanes of U.S. 11 and one southbound lane were closed briefly following the crash.