Urbandale police have identified the motorcyclist killed in a crash last week as 60-year-old Vernon Arthur Lawrence of Des Moines. Lawrence died after officers found him and a passenger with critical injuries following a crash on the southbound Highway 141 off-ramp to N.W. Urbandale Drive.
According to the Des Moines Register, police said Lawrence was riding the motorcycle and the other adult involved was his passenger. The crash happened Friday, Oct. 23, at the off-ramp connecting southbound Highway 141 to N.W. Urbandale Drive. Reports on the exact timing have varied slightly, with one account from the Register citing around 1 p.m. and a report from KCCI citing around 1:05 p.m.
Two Critically Injured, One Did Not Survive
Police arriving at the scene found two adults with critical injuries, and both were transported to a local hospital, where one later died, the Register reported. Lawrence was later confirmed as the man who did not survive.
Accounts differ on what has been disclosed about the second person involved. The Register's most recent report states that the other adult, who has not been identified, was critically injured, while KCCI's earlier report said the other person was also hospitalized with critical injuries. Police have not released that individual's identity.
Investigation Remains Open
The crash continues to be investigated by police, per the Register's reporting, and no additional details about how it occurred have been released. Urbandale's case follows another fatal motorcycle crash in the Des Moines area this month, when a rider died in a crash on East University Avenue that prompted a full road closure, as Hoodline reported.
Lawrence, a Des Moines resident, was named publicly for the first time six days after the crash. As the investigation into the Urbandale off-ramp crash continues, no further updates on the condition of the surviving passenger have been made public.
