A 44-year-old man was killed in an accident involving a motorcycle on Route 1 in northern Harford County Saturday afternoon, police said.
The crash, which happened on Route 1, about five miles north of Bel Air, between the intersections with Gibson Road and Richardson Road, was reported around 1 p.m.
Maryland State Police troopers investigating at the scene confirmed the person driving the motorcycle was pronounced dead.
In a news release Saturday evening, State Police identified the dead man as Eddie Lee Mitzel. The victim's address was not provided.
State Police said Mitzel was diving a Harley Davidson motorcycle south on Route 1, south of Robertson Road, when he failed to stop in time and struck the rear of a Honda CR-V driven by Joseph Lee that was stopped in the roadway preparing to make a left turn into a private driveway.
Mitzel, who was wearing a helmet, was ejected from the motorcycle onto the northbound lane of highway and into the path of a Dodge Ram pickup truck and was run over, police said. The driver of the pickup was not identified.
As police investigated at the scene around 2 p.m., the motorcycle lay in on its side behind the light gray Honda CR-V with Pennsylvania license plates. The left side of the SUV's rear bumper had been damaged.
State Highway Administration workers directed the steady weekend traffic – which included many motorcycle riders – at the Gibson and Richardson roads intersections while State Police troopers talked to witnesses, took photos and used orange spray paint to mark parts of the crash scene.
Jonathan Ray, a Harford County resident who works at the SHA's Churchville Shop on Route 22, was off duty and riding his own motorcycle home when he saw the crash and his SHA supervisor directing traffic.
Ray helped direct traffic until uniformed SHA workers arrived.
"I just happened to be coming through here and saw this situation and tried to help out," he said.
Ray lamented that "there's no cause for something like this to happen."
The Lutheran Mission Society operates nine Compassion Centers for the community in Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, including two in Harford County. The Bel Air-area thrift store is along Route 1 where Saturday's crash happened.
Coordinator Rick Broomfield was in the store at the time of the crash.
"It's horrible," he said.
Broomfield said he walked outside and saw two or three men giving the motorcycle rider CPR. He called 911 and was told an ambulance was already en route.
He said he has seen accidents along the heavily highway every few months since the store opened in July of 2015.
"Nothing this serious, but several injuries and lots of cars damaged," Broomfield said.