Police chase ends when motorcycle crashes into homeless camp

4:32 PM, Apr. 30, 2011 |

SOUTH BURLINGTON — A motorcyclist going 137 miles an hour on Interstate 89 led police on a chase from Williston to South Burlington Saturday morning before crashing into a homeless encampment near the intersection of Interstate 189 and U.S. 7, state police said.

The operator of the motorcycle, 19-year-old Eric Larson of Jeffersonville, was injured in the crash and transported by South Burlington rescue to Fletcher Allen Health Care. He remained in the hospital Saturday afternoon. Several residents of the homeless encampment reported slight injuries as a result of the crash. They refused medical treatment, police said.

The pursuit began shortly after 9:07 a.m. when Vermont State Trooper Todd Ambroz’s radar showed Larson traveling at 137 m.p.h. northbound on I-89 just south of exit 12 in Williston, police said. The trooper pulled out in pursuit, activated his lights and siren and notified dispatch and the senior trooper on duty, police say. Ambroz caught up with Larson as the motorcycle exited onto I-189 at exit 13. Larson looked back, according to police, then accelerated and passed a pickup on the exit ramp. Once on I-189, Larson rapidly accelerated out of sight. Ambroz next caught sight of the motorcycle just before U.S. 7 as it failed to negotiate a slight right curve. The motorcycle continued into the median and crashed as it entered into a makeshift campsite where homeless people live.

Officers from multiple jurisdictions responded. South Burlington police are investigating since the crash took place there.

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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110430/NEWS02/110430011/Police-chase-ends-when-motorcycle-crashes-into-homeless-camp?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

to stop this kind of thing from happening?

I doubt this happens often in Burlington.