Motorcyclist fleeing Cedar Rapids police was critically injured in crash

CEDAR RAPIDS — A motorcyclist who fled from Cedar Rapids Police officers Wednesday was seriously injured when he crashed into a bus in Cedar Rapids, according to a news release from the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

Lewis McColley, 29, of Cedar Rapids, was driving a 1979 Yamaha motorcycle in the area of Sixth Street and Ninth Avenue SW when a Cedar Rapids police officer attempted to pull him over for not having a license plate.

McColley didn’t stop after the patrol car’s lights came on, and instead led the police on a pursuit. He ran a red light at First Avenue SW and traveled north on Ellis Boulevard at a high speed, the release states.

The chase started at 1:36 p.m. and ended at 1:37 p.m., when McColley ran into a 2018 Forest River bus that was turning into a Casey’s gas station at the corner of Ellis Boulevard and O Avenue NW.

McColley, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle. He was taken to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital with serious injuries, then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where he remains in critical condition, according to the Thursday evening release.

The driver of the bus — Mark Campbell, 63, of Cedar Rapids — was the only person in the vehicle and was not injured.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department contacted the Linn County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the crash. The case remains under investigation, the release states.

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