Beard died in a two-vehicle crash around 6 p.m. Thursday at North Yellow Springs and West Columbia streets. Beard was in a GMC Yukon traveling east in the center lane on West Columbia Street when it was struck by a Chevrolet Sonic that failed to stop for the red light at North Yellow Springs Street, according to a Springfield traffic crash report.
After the GMC was struck, it spun around and began rolling over, went through the intersection and came to rest on its top in the parking lot of Tuffy Tire and Auto Service Center.
“Both the driver and the occupants of the GMC were totally ejected from the vehicle and came to rest in the roadway near the GMC’s final rest,” the report said.
The driver of the GMC was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center and then later taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton with life-threatening injuries, the report said. Beard, who was the only other occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Chevy had four occupants, two of which had possible injuries. However, none of the injuries were considered life-threatening and none of the occupants were taken by ambulance to the hospital, the report said.
The motorcyclist, Rife, was the lone rider on his bike when he crashed around 6:30 p.m. Thursday at East John Street and Sunset Avenue.
The motorcycle was at the stop sign on Sunset Avenue when he then turned west on East John Street, according to a Springfield traffic crash report. The motorcycle went left of center, struck the curb on the south side of the road and lost control.
One witness who saw the crash said he was in his front yard when he saw the motorcyclist lose control, the report said. A second witness who was behind the motorcycle said he saw him go to the other side of the road, hit the curb and once he hit the curb, gave the motorcycle “a lot of gas and then wrecked.”
Rife was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
