Susan K. Lamb, Democrat Managing Editor
Four people were injured, two critically, Sunday morning, Aug. 20, when a vehicle attempted to make U-turn from a side road onto US 129 in O’Brien and struck three motorcycles, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Two of the victims were flown from the scene by emergency helicopter to Shands at UF in critical condition. Both were airlifted from a field next to US 129. Neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, FHP said.
Two others involved in the crash received minor injuries and were taken to Shands at Live Oak, FHP said. The driver of the car fled the scene on foot and has not been found.
FHP said witnesses told them a 2001 Hyundai two-door car had been disabled on the east shoulder of US 129 facing north and the driver had gotten the car running again. A 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Robert James Snipes, 57, Live Oak, a 2004 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Elizabeth Ellen Pence, 54, of Baldwin, and a 2000 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Robert L. O’Farrell, 55, of O’Brien were northbound on US 129. The witnesses told FHP the Hyundai’s driver turned left into the path of the three motorcycles to make a U-turn. The motorcycle driven by Snipes struck the left front of the Hyundai, FHP said, ejecting Snipes with the motorcycle coming to a final rest in the southbound lane of US 129. Snipes and Pence were both critically injured.
The Hyundai came to a final rest on the west shoulder of US 129, rotated clockwise and began to travel off the roadway back onto the east shoulder of US 129. The front of the motorcycle driven by Pence struck the right side of the Hyundai and both continued off the roadway, coming to a final rest on the east shoulder of US 129, FHP said.
Pence was ejected from her motorcycle and landed on the east shoulder also. The driver of the third motorcycle, O’Farrell, laid his motorcycle down in a successful attempt to avoid a collision with the Hyundai. Both O’Farrell and his passenger, Jesse James Seegert, 16, of O’Brien, fell from the motorcycle as it slid on its right side north on US 129, coming to a final rest in the middle of US 129, FHP said. Both were wearing helmets when the crash happened, FHP said. Both received minor injuries.
The driver of the Hyundai, FHP said, believed to be a Hispanic male, fled the scene on foot. FHP Troopers and Suwannee County deputies are currently trying to identify and locate the driver.
FHP Trooper A. J. Creech is investigating the crash along with Sgt. S.W. Coody.
