0:59A motorcyclist with a passion for fast bikes was going at least 100 miles per hour when he struck a pothole or a crack along a winter-worn stretch of a Minneapolis interstate and was thrown to his death, authorities said Wednesday.
Anand "Andy" Baskaran, 30, who worked as an information technology analyst at 3M Co. in Maplewood, hit the road hazard along eastbound Interstate 394 near Theodore Wirth Parkway about 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the State Patrol.
Witnesses saw that Baskaran was wearing a helmet immediately before the crash, according to the patrol. A trooper who arrived at the crash scene reported that Baskaran's helmet was not on but one was recovered nearby.
Baskaran recently moved to the Twin Cities from Long Island, N.Y.
Three witnesses said Baskaran and another motorcyclist were going at least 100 mph and possibly as fast as 120 mph, patrol Lt. Jason Bartell said.
"We have one witness statement that the motorcycle hit a crack in the road and started to wobble … It's really hard to come back from that," Bartell said at a news briefing. The patrol's initial report on the incident described the crack as a pothole.
"It falls back to speed; it falls back to that unsafe, illegal speeding," Bartell said. "If you're driving at that speed, no matter what the road conditions are like, it's going to be tragic."
The other motorcyclist "took off from the scene shortly after the crash" and has yet to be located, he said.
