A 62-year-old motorcyclist died at the scene after an SUV turned left into his path on Dickinson Avenue in Greenville, and the driver now faces criminal charges three days later. Martin Barno was identified as the man killed in the crash, which happened just before 7 p.m. near Dickinson Avenue Extension and Noah Court, east of Allen Road.
Officers responded to the intersection on Oct. 16 and found that an SUV traveling southwest on Dickinson Avenue had turned left into an oncoming motorcycle, according to reflector.com. Greenville police said the motorcycle had been traveling northeast on Dickinson Avenue at the time of impact, as WITN reported. Barno was pronounced dead at the scene.
The SUV driver, 76-year-old Joseph Taub, sustained minor injuries and received medical care, according to the same account. He remained on scene as investigators worked to reconstruct how the two vehicles collided at the intersection.
Arrest Comes Three Days After the Crash
Taub was arrested on Oct. 19, three days after the crash, and charged with death by vehicle and failure to yield inflicting serious injury, per the station's report. Greenville police said a man was arrested after colliding with and killing a motorcyclist, confirming the timeline between the crash and the charges.
North Carolina law addresses death-by-vehicle offenses under General Statute § 20-141.4, titled Felony and misdemeanor death by vehicle; felony serious injury by vehicle; aggravated offenses; repeat felony death by vehicle. Failure-to-yield charges causing serious injury fall under § 20-160.1, which covers failure to yield causing serious bodily injury and its associated penalties.
What Remains Unclear
Details such as Taub's bond, court date, attorney, or any plea have not been made available in the records reviewed. It also has not been established whether he remained in custody following his arrest. Reporting on the crash has used both “Dickinson Avenue” and “Dickinson Avenue Extension” to describe the roadway, and the precise designation has not been independently resolved.
Other motorcycle fatalities have occurred elsewhere in North Carolina in recent months, including a case in Greensboro where a motorcyclist died after being thrown from his bike and struck by a vehicle on U.S. 29, according to a Greensboro Police Department release cited by FOX8 WGHP. No further information about Barno's background, including his hometown, has been released, and no details about other witnesses to the Greenville crash have been made public.
