AKRON — A motorcycle rider is dead and a 13-year-old boy lost his leg after the two collided on a busy Akron street. The incident began when police tried to pull over what they said were two speeding, reckless motorcycle riders.
At last check, Shawn Brumbaugh, Jr., 13, was in serious condition at Akron Children’s Hospital. His family said he underwent surgery Monday afternoon to amputate his leg.
“He was in good spirits yesterday, we were talking to him, he was cheerful, eating, flirting with the nurses, which is typical Shawn,” said his aunt, Jennifer Fettler.
Relatives said Brumbaugh has a long road ahead of him, but remains upbeat despite an accident that cost him his leg.
“We’re all on pins and needles as expected, so shocked … everything that you can think of … all the emotions, shocked, wanting to cry, angry,” Fettler said.
Surveillance video from MJ’s Drive Through captured portions of what happened. Akron police say around 9 p.m. Saturday, Shawn was riding his bicycle across South Arlington Street near Ackley when he was struck by a speeding motorcycle.
“When I looked out the window, I seen the boy sitting on the street, and I seen that his leg was gone,” said Cynthia Henderson, who lives on the corner where the accident happened.
Police say minutes earlier, an officer had witnessed two motorcycles speeding and doing wheelies near East Exchange Street and Spicer.
The officer tried to stop the bikers, lost sight of them and then came across the accident. Motorcycle rider Eric Reppl, 29, of Cuyahoga Falls, was thrown from his bike and slid underneath a car. He later died. Police said the second rider kept going.
“They were lifting the car up to pull the man from the motorcycle out from under the car, was a bunch of people lifting the car to pull him out,” said Henderson.
“They just need to think about other people’s safety instead of their own,” said 16-year-old friend DeShawn Harris.
Shawn’s friends, relatives and neighbors say speeding vehicles are a constant problem in the neighborhood.
“I feel very upset about it, only because it could have been one of them or one of my older boys, and this is a very busy street already,” said Henderson.
“He’s a happy-go-lucky kid, tries to be friends with everybody, like normal child, doesn’t do normal boy things, rides his bike around with his buddies,” said Fettler.