OHP Releases Identity Of Motorcyclist Killed In Tulsa Accident

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- A motorcyclist's body was recovered about four hours after authorities believe he was killed in a high speed accident.

The victim is 37-year-old Timothy Williams of Sapulpa, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The man was traveling westbound on I-44 at a high rate of speed when he apparently lost control of his motorcycle on a curve where the highway crosses over Interstate 244, according to on scene reports.

Authorities say the bike hit the concrete retaining wall, and the driver was ejected. He hit a sign, and his body continued airborne until it came to rest against a retaining wall on eastbound I-244, according to News On 6 photojournalist Gary Kruse.

The motorcycle continued westbound on I-44 along the retaining wall, crossed the grassy center median and the eastbound lanes of the highway to come to rest just east of 49th West Avenue.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers got a call on the motorcycle at about 2:15 a.m. Sunday. They searched for a driver but were unable to find anyone in the area, Kruse said.

The man's body was recovered at about 6 a.m. when troopers received a call about a possible pedestrian hit and run on eastbound I-244.

"They quickly determined that it was not a hit and run but was the body of the man from the earlier motorcycle wreck," Kruse said.

The cause of the collision was unsafe speed on a curve, according to an OHP report.