FROM STAFF REPORTS

The N.C. State Highway Patrol has released the name of a man who was fatally injured Sunday morning when a tree fell on his vehicle.

Matthew Ronald Teeple, 70, of Cleveland was traveling on N.C. 152 near Brumley Road when his truck was hit by a tree about 10:10 a.m., according the NCSHP.

Teeple was pronounced dead at the scene.

The preliminary investigation indicates speed and impairment were not contributing circumstances in the collision. It was raining heavily at the time of the crash, according to the NCSHP.

N.C. 152 was closed in the area for approximately four hours, troopers said in the news release.