Vonore-based MasterCraft Boat Co. has placed its chief information officer on leave after he was involved in a Blount County collision in which three people died.
MasterCraft filed notice Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was placing David A. Kirkland, it’s chief information officer, on administrative leave after he was involved in a Jan. 28 automobile accident in which three people died and in which he is the subject of criminal charges. Kirkland will remain on leave pending the result of legal proceedings, and the company’s IT director, Richie Brashears, will take on his duties in the meantime, MasterCraft said.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, on Jan. 28, David Kirkland, 54, of Vonore, was driving a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado north on U.S. Highway 411 when he drifted into the southbound lane and collided with a 2002 Ford Explorer driven by Brianna Allard, 21, of Greenback.
Rebecca Kirkland, 49, a passenger in the Colorado, was killed, as was a passenger in the Explorer, Matthew Sherwood, 28, of Maryville. Allard died Sunday at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
David Kirkland faces charges including two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault and driving under the influence of drugs, according to the accident report.
According to the MasterCraft website, Kirkland joined the company in 2000 as director of information systems and has been its CIO since 2008. Before that, he was manager of information systems at TRW Loyola Steering Systems, which is now a division of JTEKT Auttomotive.
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