Two people were killed Wednesday afternoon after a pickup fleeing the scene of an earlier accident traveled the wrong way on the Main Street bridge and struck a bicyclist, police said.
The crash happened shortly before 3 p.m. when a blue Ford F-150 coming from North Little Rock traveled south in northbound-only lanes on the span, said North Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick.
As the pickup continued traveling the wrong way, reportedly at a high rate of speed, a bicyclist traveling northbound toward North Little Rock was fatally hit, Dedrick told reporters at the scene.
The Ford then hit the concrete barriers of the bridge, causing the driver to be ejected and also fatally injured, according to police.
Dedrick noted that the driver of the Ford had left the scene of another accident at 5th and Main streets moments before, stopping briefly to speak with the victim of that crash before fleeing in the direction of the Main Street bridge.
“We’ve got numerous witnesses saying that he was going very fast away from that accident. Also coming across the bridge,” Dedrick said.
Police said the pickup hit concrete barriers on both sides of the bridge multiple times. Heavy damage was reported to the truck, including a driver’s-side door that was “almost completely off.”
The driver was found about 20 feet from his pickup on the span, authorities noted.
It was not immediately clear whether that driver was wearing a seat belt or whether the bicyclist was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
The identities of the wrong-way driver and bicyclist, both black males, were not released Wednesday evening pending notification to next of kin. Their bodies were expected to be sent to the state Crime Laboratory for autopsies.
The bridge was opened to traffic as of 5:40 p.m. after crews worked the scene.
Read Thursday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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Photos by Brandon Riddle
Photos by Brandon Riddle
