On Saturday, December 24th at about 9:20 p.m., a Bullhead City police officer was responding to a call for service in the 2100 block of Highway 95. The officer was traveling on southbound Highway 95 in the 1800 block when a BMW motorcycle passed his fully marked patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed, nearly striking the patrol vehicle.
The officer estimated the speed of the BMW to be in excess of 90 miles per hour and the BMW was observed weaving in and out of traffic as it continued southbound on Highway 95. The officer notified Bullhead City Police Department dispatch via radio that he was going to divert from his assigned call for service and attempt to conduct a traffic enforcement stop on the BMW as he observed it run the red light on southbound Highway 95 at Ramar Road. The officer activated his overhead emergency lighting, and the BMW did not slow or otherwise yield. Seconds later, the officer notified Bullhead City Police Department dispatch via radio the BMW was not yielding and was approaching Hancock Road before he deactivated his overhead emergency lighting.
The officer estimated the speed of the BMW at this point to be 90-100 miles per hour in a posted 40 mile per hour zone. Shortly thereafter, a separate officer who was on scene of an unrelated call for service in the 2100 block of Highway 95 observed the BMW run the red light at southbound Highway 95 and Hancock Road before colliding at a high rate of speed with a Toyota Camry inside of the intersection. The Camry was crossing Highway 95 from westbound Alta Vista Road to westbound Hancock Road and had the right-of-way. The rider of the BMW, Jonnie Seely, 40, of Bullhead City, was ejected from the motorcycle and was located by officers who immediately began rendering first aid.
The Camry was occupied by a 32-year-old Bullhead City resident and his minor child. The driver and passenger of the Camry were not injured. Seely was transported by Bullhead City Fire Department paramedics to the Western Arizona Regional Medical Center where he was transferred to an air ambulance. Seely was subsequently flown to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas where he was admitted to the emergency department for the treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Speed is an established factor in the collision and impairment is also suspected to be a factor.
After the collision, it was learned a citizen had called in and reported the BMW was speeding and driving erratically immediately before it was spotted by officers.
The collision remains under investigation and charges against Seely are pending.
