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Biker is critically injured

Jorge Diaz suffered extensive head injuries after he clipped the back of a truck, then hit a semitrailer, officials say.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 4, 2007

TAMPA - A pile of bloody clothing lay in the middle of Dale Mabry Highway in South Tampa on Tuesday beside broken pieces of a motorcycle.

Police say the bike's rider clipped the back of a commercial truck at Dale Mabry and Bay to Bay Boulevard at 9:40 a.m., sending the motorcycle into a semitrailer truck loaded with lumber.

The crash - so violent that the truck driver needed crisis counseling at the scene - happened as passengers on a HARTline bus watched. One, a firefighter, called emergency crews.

The motorcyclist, Jorge Diaz of 4304 W Wisconsin Ave., landed with the bike in the middle of the busy road, police say. Diaz, 31, who did not wear a helmet, was flown to Tampa General Hospital with extensive head injuries, police say. He was in critical condition by late afternoon, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Emergency crews had difficulty identifying him because he carried a wallet but no driver's license, said Sgt. Buddy Brogden.

Investigators closed Dale Mabry between Bay to Bay and Granada Street for about two hours.

The accident happened when the motorcyclist was headed north on Dale Mabry. Just south of Bay to Bay, he was following a commercial box truck, the type of vehicle that might be used to carry shingles or other building equipment, Brogden said.

For unknown reasons, the motorcyclist grazed the back of the truck and veered left into the southbound lanes, police say. There, he struck the side of the lumber truck, which had stopped at a traffic light at the intersection.

The impact bounced the motorcycle off the truck and into the road, where it landed near Empedrado Street, police say.

The commercial box truck did not stop, and investigators say it's possible that driver did not feel the impact of the motorcycle and was unaware of the accident. Police are looking for that vehicle.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 06:23:50]