STURGIS, S.D. (KELO.com) — The South Dakota Highway Patrol says there have been no fatalities, but there have been a handful of injury crashes as the 79th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally begins.
The patrol has reported nine crashes since Saturday, resulting in at least ten injuries.
Among the most serious was a male rider who crashed near Lead, a male and female who were hurt after striking a deer and a female passenger of a motorcycle who was seriously hurt after the bike she was on was hit from behind by a passenger vehicle.
The district total for the rally so far is 11 non-injury accidents and 9 injury accidents.
The patrol also reports D-U-I arrests have begun the year on an upward trend — a problem law enforcement wants to curtail. In the first rally report, 22 D-U-I arrests had been reported — up several from last year at this time.
Misdemeanor Drug arrests so far are right in line with last year, but felony drug arrests are way up.
The district reported 31 misdemeanor drug arrests, right in line with last year’s 30 on this date. But felony drug arrests have spiked on the opening weekend — 23 compared to 8 last year.
(Gary Matthews, The Home Slice Group, contributed to this report.)
