FATAL MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT MARKS 8TH TRAFFIC DEATH OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS
3850 Justice Dr. El Paso, Texas 79938 
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Deputy Jesse Tovar / PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Direct: (915) 538-2119
Pager: (915) 533-0733 (#5370)
Release Date / Time: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 3:00 AM
SECTION: El Paso County Sheriff's Office – UPPER VALLEY PATROL / SPECIAL TRAFFIC INVESTIGATORS (STI)
EVENT: MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT RESULTS IN FATALITY / VICTIM IDENTIFIED
LOCATION OF OCCURRENCE: Transmountain Rd. reference point 20 El Paso County, TX
DATE / TIME: Tuesday night, August 18, 2009 7:47 PM
RESULT: VICTIM IDENTIFIED
EL PASO COUNTY, TX– Tuesday night, 08-18-2009 at about 7:47 PM, Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Transmountain RD. (TMR) reference point 20 in reference to a serious motorcycle accident. Deputies along with First Responders / EMT Medics arrived on scene to find the Operator / Victim(sole occupant) of the motorcycle lying on the with serious injuries. Deputies also located the motorcycle nearby with heavy damage nearby. Special Traffic Investigators (STI) were summoned to the scene.
Preliminary Investigation by STI’s determined the operator of the black 2007 Harley Davidson Street Glide was traveling east on Transmountain Rd at reference point 20 at a high rate of speed on the left lane. The operator failed to negotiate the right curve of the highway at that location and traveled from the left lane, through the left shoulder, and onto the unprotected median. The operator violently struck a sign located on the median with the right side of the motorcycle suffering serious injury at the point of impact. The operator and the motorcycle skidded from the point of impact through the westbound lanes of Transmountain Rd to their resting points (approximately 203 feet). The operator suffered other critical injuries and was transported to William Beaumont Medical Center. The operator / victim was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
THE VICTIM HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS WILLIAM MICHAEL O’LEARY (51) OF VINTON, TX.
IT APPEARS THAT SPEED & STRONG WINDS ARE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT.
THIS ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING PENDING AUTOPSY & TOXICOLOGY RESULTS.
THIS MARKS THE 8TH FATAL ACCIDENT OUTSIDE EL PASO CITY LIMITS.
NO OTHER INFORMATION IS BEING RELEASED AT THIS TIME
END OF NEWS RELEASE
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in March of 2001 was the first Sheriff’s Office in the State of Texas to be Internationally Accredited from CALEA and is now the recipient of the First CALEA Tri-Arc award in Texas (4th in the Nation) to have accreditations in: Law Enforcement, Communications, Training Academy.