Indiana State Police sent this bulletin on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at 05:28 AM EDT.
Muncie – A Muncie teen was injured early Wednesday morning after he rode his bicycle into traffic on Hoyt Avenue at Memorial Drive. Troopers were summoned to the scene around 12:40 a.m. to investigate the crash.
The preliminary investigation by Pendleton District Trooper Lee Tinch indicates that Daniel Ratcliff, age 17 of Muncie, was riding a bike north bound on Hoyt Avenue around 12:30 a.m. when he ran the red light and entered into traffic at the intersection with Memorial Drive.
An east bound passenger car on Memorial Drive that was just pulling out with the green light was able to get stopped just before hitting the bicyclist. The bike continued on north across the street into the path of a west bound Muncie Police Department car that was approaching the intersection and also had the green light.
The Muncie Police Department car, driven by Officer Jacob Massoth, age 25, swerved to miss the bicyclist but was unable to avoid collision, hitting the bike with the left front of the car. Ratcliff was transported from the scene by Delaware County EMS to I.U. Health’s Ball Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.
Trooper Tinch was assisted at the scene by the Muncie Fire Department, Delaware County EMS and Delaware County EMA. ISP Sergeant Dave Clayton, Trooper Coley McCutcheon, and Crash Reconstruction Investigators Trooper Nick Campbell and Trooper Nate Raney were also at the scene to assist Tinch with the investigation, which remains ongoing.
All Suspects Are Presumed Innocent Until Proven Guilty in a Court of Law