Everyone deserves to buy themselves a treat once in a while and giving oneself a gift for the holidays is something many people do each year. Joseph Cooper of Fort Smith decided to treat himself to a new motorcycle last holiday season and had spent time and money learning how to ride and enjoy it.
In an interview reported by 5 News Online, Cooper’s Christmas gift to himself turned into a nightmare. After he returned from a recent trip out of town on Saturday, March 2nd, he arrived at his apartment complex to find his beloved motorcycle missing.
Imagining that he had parked it somewhere else before leaving town, Cooper searched the area for his motorcycle. Not being able to find it, he had to come to the sad realization that the bike had been stolen. “I have the keys, still have my keys. The tire was locked. The only thing I can assume is they picked it up and put it in the back of a truck,” Cooper said.
He reported the theft to the police. On Tuesday, March 5th, the Fort Smith Police Department called Cooper to tell him that they found his motorcycle. Unfortunately, however, the bike was totally destroyed. What made matters worse is that his motorcycle had been involved in a fatal crash.
According to police investigators, a motorist in a Jeep made a hard and fast turn onto Leigh Avenue and struck Dalton Quick, 20, who had been riding the stolen motorcycle at the time of the crash.
Police have so far not cited the driver of the Jeep in the fatal crash.
While police have not yet discovered who actually stole his motorcycle, Cooper reached out to the families of both Dalton Quick and the driver of the Jeep, expressing his heartfelt sympathies. “My thoughts and prayers are with you all. I hope you can have some peace,” he said. “It’s a bad ordeal.”
