INDEPENDENCE COUNTY, ARKANSAS – U.S. HIGHWAY 167 AT PFEIFFER ROAD
(September 04, 2023 at 3:55pm)
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A Batesville man was killed Monday when the motorcycle he was riding collided with an Arkansas State Police cruiser in rural Independence County, authorities said.
Michael Owens, 63, turned the motorcycle left onto U.S. 167 from Pfeiffer Road and went into the path of a state police car around 3:55 p.m., according to a state police preliminary fatality report.
State police Cpl. Brandon Trewyn, 36, of Newport drove off the roadway in an attempt to avoid a collision, but the front of the police car made contact with the motorcycle, the report says.
State police spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said Trewyn, who was taken to a hospital after the crash and released on Tuesday, had his lights and sirens on at the time.
A trooper investigating the wreck reported that the weather was cloudy and the road was dry.
32 Comments
INDEPENDENCE COUNTY, ARKANSAS – U.S. HIGHWAY 167 AT PFEIFFER ROAD
(September 04, 2023 at 3:55pm)
—
A Batesville man was killed Monday when the motorcycle he was riding collided with an Arkansas State Police cruiser in rural Independence County, authorities said.
Michael Owens, 63, turned the motorcycle left onto U.S. 167 from Pfeiffer Road and went into the path of a state police car around 3:55 p.m., according to a state police preliminary fatality report.
State police Cpl. Brandon Trewyn, 36, of Newport drove off the roadway in an attempt to avoid a collision, but the front of the police car made contact with the motorcycle, the report says.
State police spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said Trewyn, who was taken to a hospital after the crash and released on Tuesday, had his lights and sirens on at the time.
A trooper investigating the wreck reported that the weather was cloudy and the road was dry.
The biker will probably be charged with attempted murder of a police officer , his family will be responsible for the deputies injuries and lost time from work and and any emotional trauma suffered by the officer and replacement of police vehicle, and if the depties wife was pregnant , and she miscarries , then that will be another charge . That how the law works today .
When you hire children as police 👎🏽
I don't get it, the bike is moving left to right, the cop should always anticipate vehicles doing this since they move to the right to get out of the way. I understand how pressure and stress on the moment play a part but I just see this as senseless and avoidable. You read the entire description for this video and the wording places all the blame on the rider, he moved across the road, he made contact with the police car like the cop was just driving and the bike caused it all…. Just sad
Observations: State law requires vehicles to move to the right and stop, if possible, when emergency vehicles approach. The officer made a bad decision in the moment, to pass on the right. The officer avoided a collision with the garbage can but unfortunately this placed him into the path of the motorcycle. This will make an important training film. Condolences to all.
How horrific for all involved.
How fast was that trooper going to try and catch that gray car that he never did get up too was that gray car doing 200 ???? Just curious
We are always taught, pass on the left, pull over to the right for emergency vehicles which means if you are the emergency vehicle driver you do not pass people on the right. The cop failed to follow either one of the rules.
This is the cop fault 100%, why would the cop go right when he knows that what all riders/drivers do when they hear sirens
Unsafe operation of a vehicle. Failure to control your speed. This is no different as if you were arranged. Someone it was not a break check.
This cop shows you how driving with sirens and lights at a high rate of speed for no reason is just an accident waiting to happen!!!! Also you can clearly see the motorcyclist was trying to move over to the right. The cop was actually more worried about hitting the stupid trash can than the motorcyclist.
So… he saved the trash can instead of the biker?
Wtf are these guys driving like this for???
Looks like he saved most of the garbage receptical?? What the he$$
Cops fault. Learn ho to drive if you’re going haul-ass like that. All officers should have to go to racing school or advance driving school before becoming an officer. Race karts… something. That was a terrible reaction.
The biker was complying and obeying the law, and the trooper still killed him
He can't drive for shyt💩
The cop had plenty of room to swerve on the left and avoid this. Again, chasing after criminals carry a risk to innocent travelers but criminals must get caught. However, is the risk justified to chase after some idiot speeding in residential areas or congested areas provoking the speeder to go even faster? Certain driving infractions are best to be left alone.
Explain to me again why the Arkansas State Police spent $40M on a "precision driving track"?
Too dang fast knowing other motorists are going much slower and are not going to be able to respond to 100+ mph.
I guess i could if y'all let me practice on that $40M track
While I normally don't play armchair critic to horrible incidences like this. The officer should have anticipated the motorcycle's threat to the lane and immediately steered to the motorcycle's left to avoid the incident, where there was a right turn blinker on the car in the opposite far left lane which would have left the lane between that vehicle and the motorcycle completely open. He HAS to learn to anticipate that motorcycle (or any vehicle) can potentially go anywhere from where it's at all the way to the furthest right to avoid the officer.
That is – the officer had a full 3 seconds which would have certainly pushed the car and his skills to their limits by going the opposite direction of the motorcycle, going around it, and the accident would have been avoided.
It sucks, dont get me wrong, and this truly was an accident – but at the rate of speed the officer was traveling in, you have to understand that other's reactions are going to be next to nonexistent to you as an officer going this speed – and when they do react – it's still going to be within the law. The lack of planning for the motorcycle's otherwise completely legal yet undoubtedly 'bad move' (which is doing anything other than staying in his lane) combined with an officer traveling at 110+ miles per hour with an officer not at least considering the motorcycle driver would move into those lanes until it was too late made for an unfortunate ending.
This is ALL ON THE OFFICER! The biker was pulling over just as he was supposed to do, the officer had ALL THE ROOM HE NEEDED TO PASS ON THE LEFT, BUT HE CHOSE NOT TO!! This is INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER any way that you look at it!!!
He was passing on the left until the Biker he passed on the right. It looks like murder charges to me!
Where's the phantom sedan?
Honestly dont think the cop "made the wrong choice" when he first saw the bike it was incthe left lane, it was either dodge right or go head on into traffic my natural reaction upon watching the video would have been to dodge right aswell
Arkansas….49th in crime and corrections…47th in education….43rd in health care…#1 in innocent deaths by police pursuits
wtf was the biker even doing just stop
Wow this trooper was wrong on all levels whether he was a newbie or an old head he was IN THE WRONG!
Sad. Looked like the biker used the whole road, though. Still, you can't fly over blind hills at that speed.
Cop is at fault for that.. Can't even keep his lane.. but he's covered because he's responding to a call with his late lights and siren 🚨
Motorists are required by law to pull over to the far right of the road for emergency vehicles. What’s the point?
Clearly, the biker was oblivious. Perhaps drowsy, distracted or just inexperienced. You ride a bike, you assume some serious risk.
My question is why did the motorcyclist move from the center lane all the way to the right. The police officer moved over because the motorcyclist was moving from the center lane to the next lane at the time. Motorcyclist was a fault for improper lane change. RIP and prayers for family and friends