Whoops

highway Patrol says Whitewood police vehicle hit biker
By Steve Miller, Journal staff

A Whitewood Police vehicle struck an Idaho motorcyclist on Interstate 90 during the Sturgis motorcycle rally last week, according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol earlier had reported that the motorcycle hit the police vehicle.

In its original account, released Friday, Aug. 10, the Highway Patrol said a Whitewood Police vehicle was attempting a turn-around in the Interstate 90 crossover just east of the Whitewood exit when it was struck by a 2007 Victory motorcycle driven by Glade Ririe, 42, of Idaho. The accident occurred about 1:13 a.m. Aug. 10.

On Tuesday, Highway Patrol Capt. Randy Hartley said the Whitewood Police vehicle, driven by officer John Wainman, had come onto I-90 westbound from the Whitewood exit westbound on-ramp. Wainman was attempting to cut across the lanes and turn around, Harley said. "He didn't see the motorcycle," he said. The left front of the Chevy Tahoe police vehicle hit the side of the motorcycle, Hartley said.

Wainman is a temporary officer with the Whitewood Police Department, according to a city spokeswoman. He was not injured in the accident.

Hartley said no citation has been issued involving the accident.

Ririe, of Shelley, Idaho, was able to keep his motorcycle upright even though it careened into the median, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. He suffered a slight fracture in his right heel. He was treated at and released from the Spearfish Regional Hospital.

His fiance, Annette Eastvold, was thrown from the bike and suffered minor injuries. She, too, was treated and released from the hospital.

They rented a car and returned to Idaho last weekend.

Ririe said the Whitewood officer not only didn't see him, but he also didn't see a group of three to five motorcycles heading westbound on I-90. "He was headed west on the shoulder slowly, and he came off the right-hand shoulder across two lanes of traffic and hit us."

Ririe said the police vehicle struck his bike at the right-side foot peg.

"There's no way, shape or form I'm at fault here," Ririe said.

He said he wants the city of Whitewood to pay his hospital bills, but he hadn't yet contacted the city.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com

BIker "Discrimination rears" it's head

Patch ban at One-Eyed Jack's spurs boycott, possibly legislation
Columnist takes a new twist to a long-running Sturgis issue By Bill Harlan, Journal staff

A beef with Hells Angels could inspire legislation to protect wearing motorcycle-club “colors,” a state legislator told me Friday. One Eyed Jacks saloon on Main Street in Sturgis was hopping this week, despite a call for a boycott because of a ban on motorcycle-club "colors."

“If this persists, I’ll consider it,” said Rep. Jim Putnam, R-Armour, who sometimes wears a Sturgis motorcycle rally necktie during the legislative session. Putnam was barred from entering the giant One-Eyed Jack's saloon on Main Street in Sturgis last week while wearing the colors of his own dangerous motorcycle club, the Lawmakers.

Now, Putnam supports a boycott of the saloon. “I’m not going in there,” he said. (Putnam is taking it easy this week, anyway, after breaking his arm in a slow-speed spill during the Governor’s Ride.)

One-Eyed Jack's owner Ray Gold is just as adamant about keeping his new ban on “back patches.” Hells Angels, who have a Sturgis headquarters near the bar, often drink there. Gold said other customers and staff sometimes felt intimidated. “People don’t like it when Hells Angels muscle in and tell you you’re sitting in their seat,” he said. Besides, he said, “A lot of feuding goes on, and that’s when they start shooting and killing each other.”

But the ban on patches also angered Louis Nobs of Hibbing, Minn., who was barred entry wearing his Soldiers for Jesus colors. “You can’t ban patches for just one group,” he said. “If you ban them for motorcyclists you have to ban them for bowling teams, the Knights of Columbus – everyone.” Nobs is on the board of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, and he’s helping distribute 60,000 fliers calling for a boycott.

Gold countered that he has a right to have a dress code. “Why should I allow them run my business?” He asked. “That’s just not going to happen.” One-Eyed Jack's is the only bar in Sturgis banning colors, but Gold points out other establishments do ban colors. In fact, last week, a sign on the bar at the new Boneyard concert venue in Whitewood warned against wearing colors “Due to state regulation.”

Putnam laughed. “We know there’s no such regulation,” he said. In fact, he wore his colors to the Boneyard.

Gold met with Nobs, Putnam and a Hells Angels representative, but as of Friday, colors were banned and the boycott was on. That’s fine with Gold. “It’s helping business,” he said. “They’ve won the first round,” Putnam admitted, but he added that legislation protecting motorcycle attire passed the state House in the early 1990s. It failed in the Senate, he said, but a similar Minnesota law has survived court challenges. Beware a legislator with a Sturgis necktie.

Contact reporter at 394-8424 or at wrh2@rushmore.com. Go to http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/ and click on the Sturgis street blog for online reports.Add to Technorati Favorites