Motorcycle rider fleeing police arrested after crashing into SUV in Berks, police say
Jun. 2—A Mohrsville man crashed his motorcycle into the back of an SUV while fleeing an attempted traffic stop by a Muhlenberg police officer Thursday afternoon on Fifth Street Highway, police said.
Despite being injured in the crash, Damon S. Ebling, 30, ran from the accident but was taken into custody a short time later, police said.
Ebling of the 2100 block of Main Street was taken to Reading Hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries before being transported to the central processing center for arraignment, He was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $2,000 bail to await a hearing following arraignment Thursday night before District Judge Sandra L. Fegley in Reading Central Court.
He faces charges of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, hit-and-run, driving under a suspended license and fraudulently altering a vehicle registration.
According to the probable cause affidavit:
Officer Jason Walters was stopped for a red light on Fifth Street Highway, which is Route 222 Business, facing southbound at South Temple Boulevard. He noticed a northbound motorcycle splitting traffic. The driver of the motorcycle, later identified as Ebling, stopped when he got to the front of the line, where he made eye contact with Walters in his patrol vehicle.
When the light turned to green, Walters proceeded ahead, then made a U-turn to initiate a traffic stop. Ebling refused to stop, ran a red light at North Temple Boulevard and weaved in and out of traffic.
Walters stopped for the red light and radioed a description through dispatch for assisting officers. When the light changed to green, he continued northbound. As he passed Water Street, he noticed the sport motorcycle under the rear bumper of an SUV whose driver had stopped to make a left turn onto Euclid Avenue.
A witness said the motorcycle rider ran east on Mount Laurel Avenue. Walters gave chase and found Ebling coming out of some bushes on Mount Laurel.
The motorcycle, a 2003 Suzuki GSXR, had a license plate for a Triumph motorcycle, and one of the numbers had been altered with blue paint.
