An off-duty officer with the Navasota (TX) Police Department was killed in a motorcycle crash during a trip to South Dakota for the annual Sturgis Festival.
According to KBTX-TV, the crash—which occurred on Monday evening—left two people dead, including Officer William Cooper.
The South Dakota Department of Public Safety said Cooper failed to negotiate a curve, crossed the center line and crashed into two eastbound motorcycles.
South Dakota DPS said in a statement that a 55-year-old man driving the eastbound motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene. Cooper was airlifted to a Rapid City hospital where he later died. The third driver received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Cooper was sworn on to the Navasota Police Department in December 2019. He spent two years prior at the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office
The weeklong Sturgis Festival draws an estimated half million motorcycle enthusiasts from around the country for music, food, and group rides through the countryside surrounding the South Dakota town.
