5 dead in separate motorcycle crashes

Motorcycle crashes claimed the lives of several people in North Alabama over the weekend, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Three men and a woman were killed in separate crashes in separate counties Saturday.

The first, at 12:15 p.m., took place at the intersection of U.S. 72 and Burgreen Road, 8 miles west of Athens, Alabama, according to ALEA news releases.

Brandon Michael Bennett, 22, was killed when the 2005 Yamaha motorcycle he was driving collided with a 2014 Chevrolet Impala, causing it to run into a 2017 Nissan Versa. Bennett was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no other reported injuries, officials said.

Less than an hour later at 12:54 p.m., Joseph Andrew Hopkins, 46, was killed when the 1994 Honda motorcycle he was driving struck a culvert along Cullman County 109, according to another news release. Hopkins was taken to a Birmingham hospital where he later died.

Then at 9:45 p.m., Michael Wood, 49, and his passenger, Judith Mayhew, 53, both of Madison County, were killed when the 2017 Harley Davidson motorcycle Wood was driving left the roadway and struck a concrete curb along Union Grove Road, 8 miles north of Arab, before striking two unoccupied vehicles, officials said. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

As the night crept into Sunday, another man died after the 2005 Yamaha motorcycle he was driving ran off the roadway along a curve on Franklin County Road 56, striking a barbed wire fence and posts, ALEA officials said.

Donald Thomas Brewer Jr., 39, died at the scene.