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Motorcyclist dies in collision with car
By CHRIS TISCH CLEARWATER -- The woman gasped for breath and fluttered her eyes. Those who had stopped to help told her to hold on, that an ambulance was on the way. Her pulse was faint, her breathing sporadic. Twenty seconds, they told her, and the ambulance will be here. But when paramedics pulled up, the woman's breathing had stopped and her pulse was gone. The woman died shortly after a ferocious crash at the intersection of Myrtle and Seminole streets in Clearwater Friday night. The woman, whom police did not identify late Friday, was riding her three-wheeled motorcycle south on Myrtle Street when a northbound car apparently turned in front of her, police said. The motorcycle slammed into the side of the car and exploded. The impact ripped the front of the motorcycle from the frame and coughed fire into the air. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball that reached almost to the traffic lights. "It was huge. It was bright and so big that I had no idea what was on fire," said Tonya Crooks, who was driving north on Myrtle Street a few blocks away when the crash occurred. About a dozen bystanders pulled the woman away from the burning motorcycle and started treating her. "She wasn't real responsive," said Michael Jackson, who lives down the street. "Her pulse was real low." The woman, who appeared to be in her 40s, was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Police said they were investigating whether the driver of the car had been drinking. "There seems to be indications alcohol may have been involved," spokesman Wayne Shelor said. The driver of the car, whom police did not identify, also was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, for minor injuries. His passenger took off running after the impact but was apprehended by police a few blocks away. He too was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. People who helped the woman said they did what they could but knew she was in bad shape. Angela Plant, who was watching television a block away when she heard the explosion, came running. She felt the woman for a pulse. It was faint at first, then vanished just before paramedics arrived. "She stopped breathing when they pulled up," Plant said. Meanwhile, Clearwater firefighters put out the fire, which left the motorcycle a black skeleton and charred the side of the car. The driver of the car sat in the grass on the side of the road, where paramedics treated his injuries. Crooks said the driver called someone on a cell phone shortly after the crash to tell them he was okay. She said he slurred his words. People who live in the area said they had seen the woman on the motorcycle before. "I've seen her ride," said Wynter Lumpkin, who lives nearby. "I don't know who she is, but I've seen her." The woman had perched a small Christmas tree and a teddy bear on the bike. They were scattered on the street Friday night among the motorcycle's charred remains.
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