Police: Motorcyclist fleeing trooper dies

Attorney general notified about crash on I-88 in Schoharie

A 25-year-old man from Pennsylvania died in a motorcycle crash after he sped away from a trooper who tried to pull him over for speeding on Interstate 88, State Police said.

The state attorney general’s office was notified about the crash that killed Yohannes E.

Bernot and representatives from the agency went to the scene of the Tuesday night crash.

Bernot, of Camp Hill, died Tuesday after his motorcycle went off of I-88 and down an embankment.

State Police said a trooper tried to pull over Bernot after allegedly spotting him riding at a high rate of speed at about 7:15 p.m. Bernot took off when the trooper turned on the cruiser’s emergency lights. The trooper turned off the emergency lights and lost sight of the eastbound motorcycle, police said.

The trooper continued driving east and saw the motorcycle go off the south side of the highway and down the embankment. Bernot died at the scene. Trooper Kerra Burns, a State Police spokeswoman, said the trooper was about a half-mile away when the bike left the road.

State Police said the trooper was not pursuing the vehicle and did not have the vehicle’s emergency lights on when the crash occurred.

The crash remains under investigation. The family of the crash victim declined comment.

The attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation investigates civilian deaths that involve police officers. The attorney general is empowered to investigate fatal encounters between police and unarmed civilians under legislation that was passed in 2020 and took effect last year.

Earlier this year, the unit looked into a passenger’s death in Albany that occurred after a driver allegedly drove away from a traffic stop and crashed. Tea-shawn Walker, a 13-yearold student at William S. Hackett Middle School, was killed in the April 4 crash. State investigators told local authorities that the actions of Albany police officers did not cause the teen’s death.

Authorities were investigating the driver allegedly involved in the Albany crash but the status of that investigation could not be immediately learned. The attorney general’s office could not be reached for immediate comment.