By Journal staff

A pair of motorcycle accidents Thursday evening killed one person and left another in the hospital in serious condition.

Police have identified the driver of a motorcycle that was killed Thursday night as Billy Smith, 57, of Fox, Okla. According to Sturgis Assistant Chief of Police Branden Bestgen, Smith was driving at a high rate of speed west on Lazelle Street about 6:25 p.m. Thursday when he hit another motorcycle driven by Richard Otten, 48, of Sturgis. Smith then crossed the center lane of the road into oncoming traffic and hit a car driven by Wayne Berg, 54, of Colorado Springs.

Smith was taken by ambulance to Sturgis Regional Hospital, where he later died. Otten suffered minor injuries; Berg was not injured.

The accident is under investigation by the Sturgis Police Department with assistance from the Meade County Sheriff's Office, South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Sturgis Fire and Ambulance service.

About two hours after that accident, Sturgis police responded to a motorcycle/SUV accident at the intersection of Highway 14A (Lazelle Street) and Moose Drive in Sturgis.

According to police, Wayne Lewis, 67, of Rapid City was riding east on a motorcycle on Highway 14A when a Chevy Suburban driven by Dana Morris-Dietz, 38, of Sturgis pulled out in front of him.

Lewis, who was injured badly when he was thrown from the motorcycle by the collision, was taken by air ambulance to Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon but was upgraded to serious condition Friday evening.

Police cited Morris-Dietz with failure to yield. The accident remains under investigation by the Sturgis Police Department with assistance from the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Sturgis Fire and Ambulance also responded to the accident.