Motorcycle crash in Columbia
Emergency personnel responded shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday to a motorcycle crash on the Route 3 northbound exit ramp onto northbound I-255 in Columbia.
The motorcyclist, identified by police as 38-year-old Mark Whitmire of St. Louis, was reported to be conscious and breathing at the scene with a broken collarbone. He was transported by ambulance to a St. Louis hospital. The motorcycle, a 2015 Honda CBR600, crashed off the roadway in the grass.
The Columbia Fire Department assisted Columbia police and EMS in responding to the crash scene.
An Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network broadcast was issued shortly after 7:35 p.m., after a white and black sport motorcycle fled a traffic stop attempt by a Monroe County Sheriff’s Department deputy on Route 3 northbound in Columbia. The motorcyclist was wearing a white helmet and a black sleeveless shirt, per radio dispatch. The sport bike was riding with other motorcycles when the traffic stop attempt occurred.
Police determined Whitmire was the biker who evaded the prior traffic stop attempt.
Columbia police cited Whitmire for no insurance and violation of driver classification. Further charges are pending from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.