UPDATE 2 - Diablos Motorcycle Accident Sends Three to Hospital

Updated Wednesday, June 1

The Meriden Police Accident Reconstruction Unit has released a statement about a three-motorcycle accident on Sunday, May 29 that sent riders to area hospitals. Some details differ slightly from those Meriden Patch previously reported (below) that were obtained through interviews with witnesses on-scene Sunday.

The accident is still under investigation, police said. Anyone with details is urged to call Lt. Thomas Cossette at 203-630-6256.

Police say three motorcycles riding in the left turn lane on East Main Street where it intersects with Cottage Street lost control while trying to avoid hitting a green minivan that turned in front of them onto Cottage Street.

Three people were taken to Hartford Hospital. Passenger Kimmy Hartford was taken by ambulance with head injuries and a broken right hand after being thrown from a motorcycle driven by her husband, Steve Hartford. Steve Hartford was treated on-scene for road rash and an injury to his right hand. According to Meriden Police, Kimmy Hartford checked herself out of the hospital Sunday night and into one in New Hampshire.

Lou Ebare of New Hampshire suffered a broken collarbone and abrasians from the accident and his wife Marsha Ebare received facial abrasions and her left side and ankle were also injured. Both were taken to Hartford Hospital by ambulance and were both discharged Sunday night, according to Meriden Police.

Riders of the third motorcycle – driver Paul Zaler and passenger Rachael Lynn Tremblay – were treated on scene for minor injuries.

No one in the minivan, the driver, Jackson Anti, his wife and two small children, were hurt.

Updated 2:20 p.m., Sunday, May 29

The 11:15 a.m. motorcycle accident has been cleared and East Main Street is now open to traffic.

Updated 1:51 p.m., Sunday, May 29

East Main Street between Parker Avenue and Newton Street is closed while Meriden Police work to reconstruct a three-motorcycle accident that sent three members of the Diablos Motorcycle Club to area hospitals – one with head injuries. 

The accident occured at about 11:15 a.m., according to witnesses, when three motorcycle drivers "dumped" their motorcycles at the intersection of East Main and Cottage Streets. Each vehicle had two riders, and was part of a larger "memory ride" the Diablos were holding to visit gravesites of fallen club members.

A female passenger was transported to Hartford Hospital with head injuries, and a male driver and his female passenger were taken to the same hospital. Other bikers in the accident were sitting in lawns on the South side of East Main Street with ice packs, and talk of broken toes, cuts and bruises. A bloodied paper towel lay on the ground underneath police tape surrounding the accident scene at 1 p.m.

Stories as to what made the drivers crash differ.

One Diablos member who was not involved in the crash, but riding behind in a truck, said a van cut the riders off, forcing them to abandon their bikes rather than be hit. 

The member declined to give his name, but told Meriden Patch that the bikes were headed East on East Main Street when a green Chevrolet Astrovan shot across East Main Street from a cemetary driveway onto Cottage Street in front of the riders. This, he said, caused them to turn quickly left and abandon their bikes in the left lane of East Main, rather than hit the van. 

The driver of the Astrovan, a Meriden man named Jackson, who asked that his surname not be included in this article, said he had nothing to do with the accident. He said he was bringing his wife and two small children home from a store, and heard the crash after he made a left turn from East Main Street onto Cottage Avenue. He said he called 911 from his phone and stayed to help victims, and was surprised when he heard the riders were blaming the accident on him.

"Their speed was too much," his wife Mellanie said, attributing that to the motorcycles' fall. She said she prayed to God that the riders would be OK.

Neighbors at the intersection of East Main Street and Cottage Ave., who were picnicking on their front porch during the investigation, said they also called 911 when they heard the crash, but didn't see anything. 

At 12:30 p.m., police said the accident was still under investigation.

A Diablos member said the two who were taken from the hospital were both from New Hampshire. The Diablos Motorcycle Club is known as a national motorcycle gang with a chapter in Meriden and clubhouse at 168 Grove St. 

During a memory ride, Diablos members caravan to area cemetaries to visit the gravestones of fallen members, according to one Diablos member who declined to give his name. 

***Correction: The original headline of this story stated that only two people had been sent to Hartford Hospital because of this accident. We received that information through witness accounts, but information obtained from Meriden Police on Tuesday, May 31, indicated that three people had been sent to Hartford Hospital. This has also been corrected in the body of the article.