SHUTESBURY — A 30-year-old Athol man who crashed his motorcycle on Route 202 while heading north Saturday night, and apparently walked away from the scene, was found by state troopers about eight hours later, according to a Massachusetts State Police spokesman.
The man, who is not facing charges, was found at 4:30 a.m. Sunday 1½ miles south of the intersection with Prescott Road by a state police trooper, and was transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton by an Amherst Fire Department ambulance, said spokesman David Procopio.
The crash, at 8:22 p.m. Saturday near mile marker 47, prompted a response from state police from the Belchertown barracks, along with Shutesbury firefighters and Pelham police, even though the operator of the crashed motorcycle, a 2011 Harley-Davidson FLSTC with a Massachusetts registration, was not at the scene.
A witness reported that the man walked away from the scene and did not appear injured, Procopio said.
A State Police K-9 team began a track, along with State Police Air Wing, searching Route 202 north to Athol. Troopers also learned the identity of the operator and checked his residence, but he was not there.
They also checked with family members, who had not heard from him, Procopio said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
