Roanoke Street traffic in Christiansburg was diverted for two hours Monday as Virginia State Police reconstructed a motorcycle crash following a high-speed pursuit.
State police reconstruct the aftermath of a high-speed motorcycle chase that began on I-81 and ended moments later in wreckage and death on Roanoke Street.
That pursuit began on Interstate 81 and ended as the motorcyclist, Robert Nathaniel Cowan III, 45, of Wytheville, failing to negotiate the curve after the Depot Street light and smashing into a phone pole, died on the scene in the driveway of the Hook Ups Plus.
At 2:51 p.m. at mile marker 107 between the Radford and Tyler Road exits, Cowan’s white 2008 Suzuki GSXR was traveling north on Interstate 81. Cowan reportedly flashed his lights at the car ahead to move over, a behavior characterized as “aggressive” by state police. That car was an unmarked state police car.
When the trooper attempted to stop the motorcycle by activating his emergency lights, “That’s when the recognition happened,” the trooper stated according to a police spokesperson at the accident scene.
“He dropped two gears and took off,” he said.
The police in pursuit reported that the motorcycle reached speeds of 145 mph “and [was] pulling away.”
Cowan exited the Interstate at the 118B exit onto Rt. 11/460 at Christiansburg and was slowed in traffic.
Although Cowan intentionally struck a state police vehicle, the chase continued towards Christiansburg at speeds estimated between 80 and 100 mph before its fatal conclusion minutes later.
Cowan was driving with a suspended license.
