A motorcycle is trapped under a pickup in one of two crashes on the U.S. 60 in Apache Junction on Wednesday morning.
Two people were killed in two separate crashes on the same stretch of westbound U.S. 60 at Tomahawk Road in Apache Junction early Wednesday morning.APACHE JUNCTION, AZ (CBS5) -
Two people were killed in two separate crashes within a quarter-mile of each other on Westbound U.S. 60 in Apache Junction near Tomahawk Road early Wednesday morning.
Department of Public Safety officials said the crashes happened about 5:30 a.m., and one involved a pickup and a motorcycle.
The driver of the pickup told authorities he was distracted when he looked up and saw a motorcycle traveling at slow speed in front of him, according to Bart Graves, CORE unit supervisor with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The driver of the pickup could not stop in time and collided with the rear of the motorcycle, Graves said. The rider was thrown from his bike and pronounced dead at the scene. He's identified as Richard Trahar of Gold Canyon.
The second collision occurred within a minute after the first one.
Traffic slowed to a stop because in the first accident Apache fire officials said a large service truck stopped in a center lane to protect the motorcycle rider who was down in the road. Another car that stopped in the left-inside lane was hit from behind by an SUV, killing the car's driver, 68-year-old Harry E. Willis of Apache Junction.
US 60 westbound was blocked for four hours from 5:30 until 9:30 a.m.
DPS and Apache Junction police are investigating the crashes.
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