Motorcyclist badly hurt following crash in Downtown Phoenix: DPS

PHOENIX - Officials with the Arizona Department of Public Safety say a man is badly injured following a crash involving a motorcycle in Downtown Phoenix during the overnight hours of Aug. 16.

In a statement released during the early evening hours of Aug. 16, DPS officials say the incident began at around 12:43 a.m., when a trooper tried to conduct a traffic stop on two speeding motorcycles along the westbound lanes of Loop 202 in the Tempe Town Lake area.

"One of the motorcycles accelerated away, and the trooper initiated a pursuit. The trooper passed the second motorcycle that was traveling at a slower speed," read a portion of the statement.

The pursuit, according to officials, was terminated at around 12:48 a.m., as the motorcycle reached the area of I-10 and 7th Street in the Deck Park Tunnel.

"The trooper that initiated the pursuit stopped off left adjacent to the 5th Avenue HOV on-ramp and the motorcycle continued westbound," read a portion of the statement. "The second motorcycle rider/operator sideswiped a blue SUV and fell onto the roadway within the HOV lane, west of the Deck Park Tunnel, adjacent to the 7th Avenue on-ramp. The motorcycle and the rider/operator were then struck by a white pickup truck."

The man in the second motorcycle, identified by DPS officials as as white man in his 20s, suffered serious injuries, and was taken to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

"The injured rider/operator was wearing a helmet," read a portion of the statement.

I-10 west, according to DPS, was closed at 7th Avenue for some time, but was reopened by 4:08 a.m.