Sturgis police officer seriously injured in pursuit crash

A Sturgis police officer was seriously injured when he crashed his motorcycle during a chase early Thursday morning.

The 54-year-old officer was pursuing another motorcycle a little after 2 a.m. on U.S. Highway 14A. He crashed about two miles southwest of Sturgis when he lost control on a curve and went into a ditch.

The officer, who was not named, has serious but non-life threatening injuries.

There were several other serious Sturgis-related crashes recently.

Wednesday, about 5 p.m., a biker crashed on Highway 14A near Deadwood. The 62-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries when he went off the road and into a ditch.

Also Wednesday, a biker suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries when he lost control of his bike on Interstate 90 near Spearfish, crashing into the median.

So far, only one person has died in a rally crash this year; compared to four last year at this time. Injury crashes are also down slightly from 2018.