PANAMA CITY BEACH — A high-speed motorcycle wreck over the weekend sent metal shrapnel tearing through a motel billboard.
Ricardo Keith, of North Dakota, was taken to a local hospital following the wreck Sunday at about 11:30 p.m. His condition was stable following surgery Monday, according to Panama City Beach Police.
Keith, 23, was ejected when he failed to negotiate the turn at Front Beach Road and Hutchinson Boulevard. Eyewitnesses told police he was traveling about 100 mph on a 2013 Honda as he approached the fence in front of Casa Loma Motel at 13615 Front Beach Road, where Keith lost control of the motorcycle and left the road, law enforcement reported. At one point, parts of the bike launched about 25 feet into the air.
According to police reports, Keith ran off the road and struck the curb before careening through the plastic fence. He remained on the motorcycle, severing a power pole guy-wire, before it became snagged in the grass and tossed Keith from the seat.
As the bike tumbled across the grass, pieces of it became airborne and tore through the 25-foot-tall Casa Loma billboard about 50 feet from the road, police reported. The motorcycle came to a rest on the grass and Keith was slung further across the grass, onto the eastbound lane of Front Beach Road continues.
Keith sustained severe injuries to his right forearm and lower right leg, police reported. No charges have been filed.