Around midnight on June 23, a fatal accident happened about 55 miles northeast of Lincoln along a stretch of Interstate 480 near downtown Omaha. According to Ohama police, a Lincoln SUV was traveling east in a westbound lane of the interstate and collided with the victim’s 2004 Kawasaki motorcycle. Police said the motorcyclist later died at Nebraska Medical Center. The SUV driver, who fled the scene of the accident, has several traffic violations in recent years according to a local news source.
While police investigated and cleared the scene of the crash, a portion of the interstate was shut down. The suspect, who Omaha police later learned was a 24-year-old male, was arrested by Iowa State Patrol after driving to a casino in Council Bluffs. The Iowa trooper took the suspect into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail on one count of suspicion of DUI.
In Nebraska, the suspect was charged with felony motor vehicle homicide and fleeing the scene of a personal injury accident resulting in deat. According to the news source, the man had not been extradited as of June 23.
When a fatal motorcycle accident occurs, the immediate family of the decedent may want to contact a lawyer about filing a civil suit. Nebraska laws require a wrongful death suit to be brought about within two years of the death. An attorney representing the plaintiff of a wrongful death lawsuit would likely begin the discovery process by reviewing police reports and witness statements for evidence of the defendant’s culpability for the accident. From there, a DUI defense lawyer may work with an accident reconstruction specialist to remodel the events of the accident for further evidence of liability on the defendant’s part.
Source: Omaha World-Herald, “Omaha motorcyclist, 42, dies after accident on I-480“, Jay Withrow, June 23, 2014
