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AMERICUS -- Chrome parts from a motorcycle and pieces of a green Ford Mustang convertible were strewn across a couple hundred feet of Indiana 25 late Thursday night after the two vehicles collided, blocking traffic in both directions for hours. The motorcyclist died from the impact of the 9:15 p.m. collision, Lt. Ron Faith of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department said. Sheriff's deputies used a police dog to help track the Mustang's driver, who fled the scene, he said. Names of the victim and suspect were not available by the Journal and Courier's presstime. Lafayette resident Lisa Bart, who witnessed the crash, said she was driving north on Indiana 25 near Americus when the Mustang went to pass her and another car from the left -- going about 75 mph on the dark, narrow, two-lane road. The posted speed limit is 55 mph. It struck the southbound motorcycle head-on. "The car flew by me," Bart said. "The motorcycle just exploded." The motorcycle's handlebars lay in the middle of Indiana 25, with the bike itself landing in the front yard of a home in the 5700 block of the road that has been the scene of numerous injury wrecks before. Bart said the wreck itself happened about 50 yards south. The suspect was last seen running in an unknown direction, Faith said, after the car he was driving crashed into a Dumpster and possibly a pickup truck parked nearby. Bart, who said she drives Indiana 25 often, said the Mustang had been tailgating her briefly before it attempted to pass her. She had been going about 60 mph. Traffic in both directions was backed up for miles as police closed off the road and searched for the suspect. |