For a 37-year-old Delavan man, riding a motorcycle the past year has turned out to be quite dangerous.
Shortly after midnight on July 25, 2019, Tyler Day Neal was riding his motorcycle on Highway 109 when he was struck from behind by an eastbound pickup truck.
Neal was taken to United Hospital in Blue Earth and later airlifted to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester. He reportedly suffered fractures to his head and face, broken ribs and road rash.
Almost a year later, Neal was riding a motorcycle on Highway 169 when it was struck around 3:38 p.m, on Wednesday, June 17.
According to the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office, Neal was traveling north on a 2017 Harley Davidson when another vehicle rear-ended him.
County authorities say that witnesses saw a white truck hit the motorcycle, which was later recovered near the scene of the collision by Blue Earth police.
Chief deputy Scott Adams says there is currently an ongoing investigation of the incident.
“We found 3.9 grams of methamphetamine at the scene but not on a person,” says Adams. “That’s part of our investigation, to determine who it belongs to.”
The owner of the truck, according to authorities, was believed to be Colby John Beck who left the scene and was arrested in Elmore and transported to the county jail.
Neal was taken to United Hospital and then airlifted to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester.
The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Blue Earth police and fire departments, UHD Ambulance and the Minnesota State Patrol.
Beck, 26, of Elmore made his first court appearance on June 18 in Faribault County District Court before Judge Troy Timmerman and bail was set at $2,500 cash.
He has been charged with felony criminal vehicular operation and a gross misdemeanor charge of a driver failing to stop-injury.
Beck’s next court appearance is an omnibus hearing that has been scheduled for Aug. 10.