Oregon State Police (OSP), with the assistance of the Coos County interagency crash investigation team, is continuing the investigation into Tuesday evening’s serious injury crash after a motorcyclist attempting to elude a police officer collided with a Coos Bay Police Department (CBPD) vehicle. On September 2, 2014 at approximately 6:37 p.m., a 1996 Kawasaki motorcycle operated by JOHN THOMAS BRACKEN, age 40, from Coos Bay, was attempting to elude a Coquille Tribal Police Department officer at a high rate of speed eastbound on Highway 243 (Ocean Boulevard SE). As the motorcycle traveled around a left curve onto Central Avenue, it crashed into the front of a marked CBPD 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe operated by a Coos Bay police officer. BRACKEN was ejected off the motorcycle and came to rest in brush along the south side of Central Avenue. BRACKEN, who was wearing a protective helmet, was seriously injured and transported by ground ambulance to Bay Area Hospital. He was later transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield for further treatment. The Coos Bay police officer was not injured. At the request of the Coos County District Attorney, the interagency crash team was activated and OSP was designated as the lead investigating agency.
