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High-Speed Chase Injures Two Motorcyclists

August 19, 2005

Colorado State Patrol troopers gave chase to two motorcyclists hitting break-neck speeds on Interstate 70 from Eagle to Silt, and details still were being sorted.

Two young men on motorcycles crashed. One is jailed and the other hospitalized, and troopers suspect they were the same bikers who were clocked well in excess of 100 mph on the mountainous freeway. Clint Knox, 22, of Parachute, suffered minor injuries when he hit the back of a patrol car. He was treated and then jailed. The second man, who had not been identified, was not found until about 6 a.m. the following morning near Silt. The man said he crashed about 6 p.m., more than an hour before the chase began. "We suspect, but we can't confirm or deny, that the one found (Sunday) was one of the two" from the previous night's chase, Trooper Eric Gentry said. "He says it was 6, but he knows we're looking at last night, so he could be lying. "The second man, thought to be 20, was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction for "significant injuries," Gentry said.

Gentry said events began unfolding about 7:10 p.m. when a trooper clocked two motorcycles at 120 mph near Eagle. The trooper turned on his lights and siren and gave chase, but the bikers accelerated and sped into Glenwood Canyon. The trooper tried to keep them in sight and radioed ahead to troopers in Glenwood Springs, who spotted the riders three miles east of Glenwood Springs going 90 mph in a 35 mph construction zone.

Troopers pursued them through Glenwood Springs into South Canyon at speeds "well over 100 mph." One rider took an exit and headed west on parallel U.S. 6, while the other stayed on I-70 at speeds "that eventually exceeded 165 mph," the patrol said. The pursuing trooper backed off because of the danger of such an excessive speed and the presence of other traffic.

Meanwhile, Knox, allegedly reaching speeds of more than 140 mph on the two-lane U.S. 6, evaded an officer in New Castle and blew through a roadblock in Silt, the patrol said. Troopers used a "rolling roadblock" west of Silt and were able to slow the rider to under 55 mph. The pursuit ended when Knox's cycle hit the back of one of the patrol cars, the patrol said.

About 6 a.m., two people in a Jeep heard a man calling for help and found him in a steep ravine, Gentry said. "He went down about 50 feet and was out of sight of the road, but he was able to crawl about 30 feet closer to the road and was able to shout at the Jeep," Gentry said. "He's hurt pretty bad." Gentry said the motorcycles were "almost brand new" Suzukis, models commonly known as cafe-style bikes or race-style. "Yes, they can go that fast," he said. "The 165 is pretty scary."