PORT ANGELES — A 35-year-old Port Angeles motorcyclist died after a high-speed chase beginning on U.S. Highway 101 on Tuesday evening that ended with both the motorcyclist and a State Patrol trooper driving off a 20- to 25-foot embankment in the Olympic Mountain foothills.
Bjorn Robert Larsen died at the scene, the State Patrol said.
Trooper Travis D. Beebe, 37, was treated for minor injuries and discharged from Olympic Medical Center, the State Patrol said.
According to Trooper Russ Winger, the chase began when a trooper tried to stop the motorcyclist for speeding just before 8 p.m. on Highway 101 near Milepost 252.
Instead of pulling over, the motorcyclist took off, reaching speeds up to 90 mph on the highway, Winger said.
The chase took a turn onto Deer Park Road southeast of Port Angeles and continued at a high rate of speed six miles up the road, where both drivers went over the embankment, Winger said.
It’s unclear what led to the men going over the embankment, but State Patrol detectives are investigating.
“Speed is definitely going to be a factor,” Winger said. “They both flew off the road.”
“Both vehicles failed to negotiate the curve to the left and both went off the embankment to the right,” he said.
Beebe is off work recuperating for a few days, Winger said.
Both the 1981 Honda CB650 motorcycle and the patrol vehicle, a dark-colored 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, were destroyed, Winger said.
Larsen was wearing a helmet. He did not have a motorcycle endorsement, the State Patrol said.
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PDN news partner KOMO News contributed to this report.
