A 24-year-old man who later died was not being chased by troopers when he and another man crashed their dirt bikes into a car, the Georgia State Patrol said.
Michael A. Clark of Atlanta died from injuries he sustained in the crash on Campbellton Road at Alma Road, the GSP said in a statement.
About 7:20 p.m. Sunday, a Nissan Altima tried to turn left from Alma Road onto Campbellton Road, according to the GSP.
The dirt bikes driven by Clark and Phillip Ervin Flott, 23, of Atlanta, hit the Altima on the driver’s side, according to the statement.
Clark was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died, the GSP said.
“This crash was not the result of a pursuit/chase,” according to the GSP statement.
A witness told Channel 2 Action News he saw “a whole bunch of Georgia State Patrol officers chasing a guy on a motor bike.”
Sgt. Charles Chapeau of the GSP told Channel 2 Action News, “No one was chasing the gentleman who died when he had the accident.”
An Atlanta Police Department vehicle also was on the scene. Chapeau said it “just so happened” the car “rolled up behind him.”
According to the incident report, Clark and Flott were driving their bikes “in a reckless and careless manner by running traffic lights and stop signs, driving on the wrong side of the roadway and on and off of the sidewalks.”
It’s illegal to operate off-road vehicles on city streets, according to the GSP.
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