TOWNSHIP OF BURNETT, Wis. - The Dodge County Sheriff's Office is investigating a motorcycle crash that happened in the Township of Burnett on Friday morning, Oct. 28. Alcohol use, speed, and reckless driving have been identified as factors in the wreck.
Officials say shortly after 8 a.m. Friday, the sheriff’s office received 911 calls about the crash and a rider with serious injuries on County Highway E, just east of County Highway A – about two miles east of Beaver Dam.
The initial investigation showed a 32-year-old Ripon man was riding the motorcycle westbound on CTH E and was passing a semi in a no-passing zone, and on a curve. As the motorcycle was negotiating a right-hand curve during the pass, it was on the wrong side of the road, on the opposite shoulder and struck a raccoon with oncoming traffic approaching. The motorcycle left the roadway and continued into a tall grassy area where it collided with a guy-wire for a utility pole.
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Officials say the operator was wearing a helmet and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where a medical helicopter met them for transport to a trauma center. The Ripon man was believed to have life-threatening injuries.
The crash remains under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting at the scene were the Beaver Dam Fire and Paramedics, and Dodge County Emergency Management. Flight For Life flew the patient from the hospital.