A Vancouver man has been arrested and accused of driving his motorcycle at nearly double the speed limit along Oregon’s Highway 26.
Alex Gerkin, 23, was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of reckless driving and drunken driving.
The arrest came after sheriff’s deputies in Washington County, Ore., received complaints over the past several days, according to a news release.
The witnesses said someone was driving a motorcycle recklessly westbound on Highway 26 during the early morning hours. On at least one occasion, deputies saw the motorcycle going more than 124 mph, but it was traveling too fast for them to stop it.
On Friday, a team from the sheriff’s office, Hillsboro (Ore.) police, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office’s Air Support Unit were watching Highway 26 for the biker to appear.
At 5:24 a.m., a deputy from the Air Support Unit witnessed a black motorcycle traveling westbound, weaving in and out of traffic, lane splitting, and going more than 100 mph. The Air Support Unit followed the motorcycle. At one point, an officer from Hillsboro Police Department witnessed the motorcycle traveling approximately 115 mph on Highway 26 westbound near Northeast Cornelius Pass Road.
The Sheriff’s Office’s Air Support Unit continued to observe the biker driving recklessly as he took the Northeast Brookwood Parkway exit and headed southbound. The motorcycle pulled into a parking garage near Northeast Dawson Creek Drive and Northeast Shute Road, which is often used by employees at a nearby semiconductor manufacturing plant.
Deputies arrived as Gerkin was getting off the motorcycle. While Gerkin was being arrested for reckless driving, he allegedly showed signs of impairment, according to the news release, and was also accused of drunken driving.
