Rhome police ask for public’s help locating suspect, witness in fatal motorcycle crash
The Rhome Police Department is asking for the public’s help to find a driver suspected of causing the death of a motorcyclist. Police also hope to speak with a witness to the road rage crash.
At about 7:15 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a major crash on U.S. 287 between Pioneer Parkway and Texas Highway 114 in Rhome.
The driver of a 2014 Harley Davidson motorcycle was forced off the road by a driver of a pickup truck hauling a trailer, in what investigators believe was a case of road rage, police said in a news release.
The motorcyclist, 55-year-old Jerry Wayne Newton of Decatur, was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He did not survive his injuries, according to Rhome police.
Rhome, a city in Wise County, is about 25 minutes away from Fort Worth.
The driver of the suspect vehicle fled west on Highway 114 and turned north on Derting Road in Aurora, according to police. The suspect vehicle is a Ford four-door truck, either an F250 or F350 model, hauling a black gooseneck trailer, police discovered on surveillance video.
Police also described the suspect vehicle as a newer model Ford with an aftermarket front bumper, hood scoop with marker lights beneath the hood line, and dark gray or black wheels.
The trailer the truck was seen hauling has mismatched wheels, police said. The front wheel on the driver’s side of the trailer is white and the rear wheel is gray. The front wheel on the passenger’s side is gray and the back wheel is white. Inside the trailer was a white and black asphalt roller —or similar equipment— with a high bar behind the seat, according to police.
Immediately after the crash occurred, another truck driver stopped to help, according to police. The truck driver was described as a white man wearing an orange vest who was carrying a medical bag.
The witness spoke to a Wise County dispatcher on the phone and described the suspect vehicle as a dark or silver pickup truck pulling a trailer.
The trailer was orange on the bottom and had a black tarp covering a water tank, according to police. The suspect vehicle was followed by a similar truck and trailer that may have been traveling with the suspect vehicle.
Anyone who was in the area or has information about the accident or about the suspect vehicle and driver is asked to call the Rhome Police Department at 817-636-2400 or to call the Wise County Sheriff’s Office dispatch at 940-627-5971.
The Rhome Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers are continuing the investigation.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 7:17 PM.
