Motorcycle officer hurt

  • Allyson Bird
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  • Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Sunday, March 18, 2012 9:02 p.m.
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A North Charleston police officer laid down his motorcycle to avoid a collision early Friday but flew off the bike and hit a pickup.

Rescue workers took 38-year-old Phillip Kirkland to Roper Hospital Diagnostics & ER -- Northwoods to treat his injuries, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Cpl. Bob Beres.

Kirkland suffered minor scrapes and was treated and released from the hospital, according to police officials.

Beres said Kirkland had been heading west on Centre Pointe Drive near the Tanger Outlet Center on a 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle shortly after 7 a.m. when 33-year-old Matthew Palmer, heading east in his 1995 Ford pickup truck, tried to make a left turn in front of Kirkland.

Kirkland laid down his motorcycle to avoid the accident and hit the truck himself. Troopers charged Palmer with failure to yield right of way, according to Beres.