COLUMBIA — Police said alcohol was a factor in an early-morning motorcycle crash on East Walnut Street in which a 23-year-old Columbia man was killed today.
Columbia police said Brian L. Ricketts was traveling westbound on Walnut near Ripley Street on a 2003 Honda motorcycle when he apparently lost control of the motorcycle and traveled off the north side of the roadway, striking a street sign and utility pole. Ricketts was thrown from the motorcycle and was found lying on the sidewalk next to the utility pole. He was transported to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
No information was immediately available about whether the driver was wearing a motorcycle helmet.
His death is the second motor vehicle fatality of 2008 in Columbia.