An 18-year-old Minneapolis man admitted to police he didn’t have a license and it was his first time riding a motorcycle Monday after veering around a stopped school bus and striking a child in an Edina crosswalk, charges say.
Terrence Jacquise Mather-Lymon of Minneapolis was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with one felony count of criminal vehicular operation involving gross negligence and substantial bodily harm.
Edina police were dispatched at 2:44 p.m. to the crash near the intersection of 55th Street West and Xerxes Avenue South where they encountered a crowd of people gathered around a 10-year-old boy.
Officers observed a school bus parked across the street with its stop arm fully extended.
Witnesses told police they saw the boy get off the bus and enter the marked crosswalk area. A motorcycle then traveled at a high rate of speed into the crosswalk and hit the boy which caused him to fly through the air and land on the pavement.
The boy suffered abrasions and a “visible leg fracture” that later required surgery. His injuries were believed to be non-critical at the time, the complaint said. A statement by Edina police following the crash said the boy had “significant but non-life-threatening injuries.”
Witnesses said the motorcycle was initially stopped in southbound traffic, with several cars between the motorcycle and the school bus. They told police the motorcycle maneuvered into the oncoming northbound lane of traffic to pass them, as well as the school bus, before striking the boy.
Police learned the suspect was still on site, subsequently identified as Mather-Lymon, who told them he was riding a motorcycle for the first time that day and did not have a license.
Mather-Lymon told police he saw both the stopped school bus and the extended stop-arm. He also corroborated witness accounts that there were multiple cars stopped between him and the school bus. Mather-Lymon claimed that he saw the school-bus driver extend his arm out of the window and claimed that he interpreted that as if he could pass the stopped school bus.
Mather-Lymon estimated that he was traveling approximately 15-20 miles per hour when he hit the boy. Mather-Lymon later acknowledged to police that he knew he should not have driven around the stopped cars.
Officers spoke with the bus driver, who explained that he had activated all of the warning lights and stop-arm of the bus. He said he saw cars stopped behind him, waiting for him to complete his bus stop, and then saw two children run across the street in front of the bus. The bus driver told police he didn’t see the motorcycle until it was passing the bus. He estimated that the motorcycle was traveling 35 miles per hour, and believed the child was either dead or dying due to the violence of the collision and seeing the boy land on the street. The bus driver said there would not have been any ability for a motorcyclist to see his arms inside the bus.
Officers later obtained video from the bus that showed part of the collision. The video showed the stop-arm of the bus was operational and activated, and the brake lights and flashing lights of the bus were on. The video showed the victim and another student running across the crosswalk when the boy was then struck by the motorcycle and pushed or thrown approximately 30 feet.
Mather-Lymon made his first court appearance on the charge on Thursday. Court records show he has retained a private attorney, and bail was set at $50,000 without conditions or $15,000 with conditions. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 12.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
