By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – Motorcyclists were headed to a funeral for another biker at 2 p.m. June 17 when mechanical failure may have caused a man to drive his Harley-Davidson through a nearby building.
The motorcyclists, whom witnesses said were not speeding, had just crossed Southfield Road on northbound Allen Road when a 56-year-old man lost control of his 2013 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. A witness in a car said the motorcycle began to wobble, crossed into her lane of travel, then onto the sidewalk and into the brick wall of the closed Allen Park Bar, 5955 Allen Road.
The nearby Voran Funeral Home, at 5900 Allen Road, was the motorcyclists’ destination.
The witness said she didn’t see the motorcycle brake light come on. The man hit the brick wall with such force that he drove right through it.
A nurse who stopped to tend to the biker told police he was not breathing and was turning blue when his companions removed him from the building. One of the motorcyclists performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Allen Park rescue personnel arrived.
Police said the man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he is recovering.
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at sue.suchyta@yahoo.com.)