South Carolina motorcyclist killed in hit-and-run

Ladson, South Carolina (May 13, 2024)- State troopers have arrested one suspect in a double hit-and-run that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist on Ladson Road Friday night. Jeannie Reagan Polite, 43, was arrested over the weekend and charged with hit-and-run involving death. Polite was given a $150 thousand bond.

 

Christopher Ashley, 37, of Ladson, was killed while riding his Kawasaki motorcycle on Ladson Road around 8:45 p.m. after being struck by two vehicles in a double hit-and-run collision.

The second suspect has not been apprehended yet, according to Nick Pye, spokesman for the South Carolina Highway Patrol. An unknown vehicle attempted to turn onto Oakmount Avenue when the car collided with the side of Ashley’s motorcycle, according to highway patrol.



Ashley was ejected from the bike into the westbound lanes, where he was struck by another vehicle, driven by Polite, that left the scene of the collision. There was another passenger on the motorcycle who was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol and Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office are investigating this collision.

Drunk driver slams into motorcyclist killing four

Aurora, Missouri (June 4, 2023) - At least four people are dead, including a teenager, after a car swerved into a group of motorcycles along a highway in Missouri, officials say. The crash happened along State Highway 39, about 3 miles north of Aurora, at 11:20 a.m. on June 3, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

 

The driver, a 51-year-old woman, was driving south on Highway 39 when her car “crossed (the) center line” and hit five motorcycles traveling northbound, launching riders and drivers into the air, the report said. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, 59-year-old James Olmsted, 28-year-old Kameron Hale, 61-year-old Linda Anderson and a 17-year-old girl, the report said. The 17-year-old was not named in the report.


The teenager was riding in the passenger seat of Olmsted’s motorcycle, which caught fire after impact. Seven others, including the driver of the car, are listed in serious condition, according to the report. The driver is facing charges of felony DWI resulting in the deaths of two or more people and failing to drive on the right half of the roadway, arrest records show. Everyone involved in the crash is from Aurora.



Aurora, population over 7,000, is about 190 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City.

SOURCES:
Online Traffic Crash Report
Online Arrest Report