A speeding motorcyclist was pursued briefly by sheriff's deputies in western Minnesota Thursday night and then located dead Friday morning from injuries suffered in a crash, officials said.
A call to law enforcement shortly after 8 a.m. Friday sent the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office to County Road 88 and 180th Avenue, just north of Fergus Falls, where they located the motorcyclist's body.
The man, 34 years old from Hazen, N.D., was spotted shortly before 8:30 p.m. speeding on his motorcycle on Interstate 94 at the Hwy. 59 exit, the Sheriff's Office said.
The motorcyclist fled off the interstate and onto County Road 88 south toward Fergus Falls, the Sheriff's Office added.
"Deputies lost sight of the motorcycle and terminated the pursuit shortly after the motorcycle turned onto County Hwy. 88," a Sheriff's Office statement read.
The motorcyclist crashed less than 2 miles from where the pursuit began. His identity has yet to be released.
The crash investigation is being led by the State Patrol, which said in a statement Friday afternoon that "preliminary findings indicate speed as a possible factor that contributed to the crash."
