GARFIELD -- A Rogers man was killed and his wife injured shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday when the motorcycle on which they were riding struck a car that turned in front of them on U.S. Highway 62.
Billy R. Booher, 32, Rogers, was the driver of the 2006 Honda motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
His wife, Tory Booher, 31, was taken by ambulance to the parking lot of Brightwater Memorial Church to be transferred to a helicopter ambulance by which she was taken to Washington Regional Memorial Hospital. She was transferred to a hospital in Springfield, Mo.
The accident, reported at 4:47 p.m. Saturday, March 28, was the 100th fatality accident with the 107th fatality this year, according to Arkansas State Police.
According to the report, a young man was driving his 2014 Chevrolet Malibu eastbound on U.S. Hwy. 62 and attempted to make a left turn onto Arkansas Highway 72, turning in front of the motorcycle which was west bound on U.S. Hwy. 62. The motorcycle struck the right side of the car causing the driver and passenger to be thrown from the motorcycle.
"We looked up and I saw a crash and bodies flying," Alyssa Taylor, 19, tearfully said. She and her friend, Hunter Bradshaw, 19, of Garfield, were the second car from the stop sign at the intersection.
"I was driving south on Hwy. 72 and we were stopped at the stop sign," Bradshaw said. "There was a black car in the turn lane. I heard a motorcycle throttle ... then the car turned in front of him."
"We were talking about all the trails we were going to ride," Taylor said.
Matt Fry, park ranger with the National Park Service, who is also a member of the Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire-EMS Department, was one of the first people on the scene. He assisted until other emergency personnel from NEBCO and Avoca Volunteer Fire Department arrived.
State Trooper Mike Morgan investigated the accident. Benton County Sheriff's deputies assisted at the scene with traffic control.
General News on 04/01/2020