An official says a delivery vehicle forced a maneuver before a crash that killed 2 motorcycle riders
An Amazon delivery vehicle forced motorcyclist Christopher R. Hodgkiss to "make a maneuver" shortly before he became involved in the June 17 traffic crash east of Topeka that killed Hodgkiss and his passenger, the Kansas Highway Patrol says.
The delivery vehicle "was not directly involved with the impact of the collision, but was a factor in the collision," highway patrol Lt. Candice Breshears said Wednesday.
The highway patrol was continuing to investigate circumstances of the crash, which killed Hodgkiss, 40, of Meriden, and passenger Jinny L. Fratiello, 32, of Baldwin City, she said.
The highway patrol developed the new information about the delivery vehicle's involvement after the initial report detailing the crash was posted June 18 on the highway patrol's website, Breshears said.
The name, age and gender of the delivery vehicle's driver weren't being made public.
The crash occurred at 7:26 p.m. June 17, on US-40 highway about two-tenths of a mile east of S.E. Shawnee Heights Road, a Kansas Highway Patrol accident report said.
It said Hodgkiss was the driver and Fratiello the passenger on a 2003 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, which was westbound on US-40 when it went left of center and onto its side.
The motorcycle continued westbound "at a sideways motion" before becoming involved in a collision with a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze driven by Tina L. Jefferson, 54, of Lawrence, who was eastbound on US-40, the accident report said.
It indicated Jefferson suffered no apparent injuries but was taken to be checked out at Lawrence's Memorial Hospital.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Highway Patrol identifies another vehicle linked to fatal crash
