Jul. 16—bluefield — A man who died after a motorcycle crash while fleeing police has been identified by the Bluefield Police Department.
Patrolman D.W. Lester with the Bluefield Police Department was patrolling July 13 on Route 460’s eastbound lanes when he saw a black motorcycle traveling westbound at a high rate of speed, according to the report Lester filed. The speeding motorcycle was spotted around 4:36 a.m. that day.
Lester said he clocked the driver’s speed at 95 mph, turned around and headed westbound on Route 460 to initiate a traffic stop, but the motorcycle driver increased speed and started maneuvering in and out of traffic before making a right turn off of Route 460 onto Leatherwood Lane and continuing at a high rate of speed onto College Avenue.
“After getting onto College Avenue, the driver began to slow down as if he was going to stop, but then increased speed, turning onto Maryland Avenue,” Lester said. “The driver was attempting to make a right turn at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Montclair Street at around 65 mph when the driver subsequently lost control of his motorcycle and wrecked in front of TLC Dentistry.”
An ambulance was dispatched and the motorcycle driver was later identified as Flemon F. McNutt, 57, of Bluefield, Va.
McNutt was transported to WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital.
Lester said that after checking McNutt’s driver’s license through Mercer County Dispatch, he was advised McNutt was a wanted person out of Greenville, Tenn. for multiple felony warrants and an active gang member of a white supremacy group.
After running the Virginia license plate on the Harley Davidson motorcycle, there was no record of it, and it appeared that the vehicle identification number (VIN) was moved, “which gives the assumption that the motorcycle was possibly stolen,” Lester said.
The motorcycle was towed to the Bluefield City Impound Lot for further investigation to identify its make, model and owner, Lester said.
“After contacting Princeton Community Hospital for an update on Mr. McNutt’s condition, I was advised that he had succumbed to his injuries caused by the crash,” Lester said.
Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
Source Agencies
