A Tennessee man was seriously injured Sunday after being struck by a motorcycle while trying to provide aid to a second motorcyclist who had been involved in a previous crash on Interstate 65 in southern Bartholomew County, police report.
The initial investigation by Sgt. Adam Bullock with the Indiana State Police Versailles Post indicated that a bicycle had possibly fallen from a vehicle traveling southbound on I-65 near the 59 mile marker just north of the Jonesville exit.
The bicycle was lying in the far left lane of southbound I-65 when it was struck by at least two southbound passenger vehicles, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles.
Both vehicles, one of which was driven by Jonathan Brown, 27, of Lebanon, Tennessee, pulled to the shoulder of the interstate due to receiving damage from striking the bicycle, said Wheeles, who is the public information officer for the Versailles Post.
A group of motorcyclists, who were traveling together, then approached the bicycle that was still in the roadway, Wheeles said
One of the motorcyclists, 62-year-old Leslie D. Spillman of Lexington, Kentucky, struck the bicycle and crashed his 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
Brown then left his vehicle on foot to assist Spillman.
A 2004 Honda motorcycle, being operated by Darrell Brooks, 39, also of Lexington, Kentucky, had passed the bicycle prior to Spillman’s crash. After seeing that Spillman had crashed, Brooks then turned around and began traveling northbound on the southbound shoulder to respond to his crash.
Brooks’ motorcycle then struck Brown while he walked toward Spillman. Brown sustained serious injuries in the collision. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Louisville, Kentucky, hospital for treatment of his injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
The investigation remains ongoing at this time. Alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors in the collision.
Troopers from the Indiana State Police Versailles Post were assisted in the investigation by Indiana State Police crash reconstructionists and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.