The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Claims Its First Fatality on Friday Night
The 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally claimed its first victim on Friday night.
According to Tony Mangan, spokesman at South Dakota Department of Public Safety, 45-year-old Gregory Bullard of Fort Collins Colorado died after crashing his bike on U.S. Highway 14A, about a mile south of Lead.
The accident happened around 6 PM on Friday, July 31.
Bullard was was driving a 2005 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road, he flew off the Harley, went into a ditch and collided with a sign post.
Bullard was taken to Deadwood Regional Hospital where he died of his injuries. He was not wearing a helmet.
Another accident on Friday night left a biker with serious injuries after he crashed into a Meade County deputy’s patrol car on Highway 79.
According to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, 69-year-old Francis Finley of Newport, Minnesota struck the patrol vehicle after a deputy made a u-turn across the road, hitting the front wheel and fender of the bike.
That crash is still under investigation.
The 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally officially gets underway today.