Steve Miller, Journal staff | Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 11:00 pm
|
A Whitewood Police
vehicle struck an Idaho motorcyclist on Interstate 90 during the
Sturgis motorcycle rally last week, according to the South Dakota
Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol earlier had reported that the
motorcycle hit the police vehicle.
In its original
account, released Friday, Aug. 10, the Highway Patrol said a
Whitewood Police vehicle was attempting a turn-around in the
Interstate 90 crossover just east of the Whitewood exit when it was
struck by a 2007 Victory motorcycle driven by Glade Ririe, 42, of
Idaho. The accident occurred about 1:13 a.m. Aug. 10.
On Tuesday, Highway
Patrol Capt. Randy Hartley said the Whitewood Police vehicle,
driven by officer John Wainman, had come onto I-90 westbound from
the Whitewood exit westbound on-ramp. Wainman was attempting to cut
across the lanes and turn around, Harley said. "He didn't see the
motorcycle," he said. The left front of the Chevy Tahoe police
vehicle hit the side of the motorcycle, Hartley said.
Wainman is a
temporary officer with the Whitewood Police Department, according
to a city spokeswoman. He was not injured in the
accident.
Hartley said no
citation has been issued involving the accident.
Ririe, of Shelley,
Idaho, was able to keep his motorcycle upright even though it
careened into the median, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. He
suffered a slight fracture in his right heel. He was treated at and
released from the Spearfish Regional Hospital.
His fiance, Annette
Eastvold, was thrown from the bike and suffered minor injuries.
She, too, was treated and released from the hospital.
They rented a car
and returned to Idaho last weekend.
Ririe said the
Whitewood officer not only didn't see him, but he also didn't see a
group of three to five motorcycles heading westbound on I-90. "He
was headed west on the shoulder slowly, and he came off the
right-hand shoulder across two lanes of traffic and hit
us."
Ririe said the
police vehicle struck his bike at the right-side foot
peg.
"There's no way,
shape or form I'm at fault here," Ririe said.
He said he wants
the city of Whitewood to pay his hospital bills, but he hadn't yet
contacted the city.
Contact Steve
Miller at 394-8417 or
steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
