Deputies say Christopher Booher, 27, of Meridian was killed when his motorcycle went off Highway 21, about thirteen miles south of Idaho City Saturday morning -– bringing the total to three people killed in area motorcycle crashes in four days.
According to Boise County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Steve Dorau, “A person reported seeing what they believed to be a deceased person body floating in More’s Creek near mile marker 24.5.”
A Wilderness Ranch firefighter living nearby responded to the scene and discovered the body.
Deputies later found Booher’s motorcycle, a 2005 Suzuki, about one-quarter mile upstream from where the body was found, Dorau stated. “The motorcycle was down in the creek, off the highway,” he said.
Speed and alcohol are the presumed causes of the fatality. “Witnesses reported seeing a motorcyclist going north on Highway 21 at an extremely high rate of speed shortly before the body was found,” he added.
Tests show Booher’s blood alcohol content level at .198, over twice the legal limit.
“We are classifying this as an accident,” said Dorau.
He said there is no guard rail along the stretch of Highway 21 where the crash took place.
No other vehicles were involved.
This was the first of three motorcycle fatalities in the Boise area in recent days.
On Monday, June 19th, Boise Police Officers were dispatched to investigate a pickup versus motorcycle crash near the intersection of Warm Springs Avenue and Starcrest Drive about 7:50 p.m.
A BPD news release said the male driver of the motorcycle died from his injuries. “While the investigation remains ongoing, evidence indicates the motorcyclist was driving westbound on Warm Springs, when he crossed over the center line and collided with the pickup,” the release said.
The driver of the motorcycle was wearing a helmet.
He was transported to an area hospital but was later pronounced dead.
The driver of the pickup, an adult male, was unharmed in the crash, the release said.
The Ada County Coroner’s Office has not yet released the name of the cyclist.
Then, on Tuesday, June 20, at about 4:15 p.m., Idaho State Police investigated a two-vehicle fatal crash at the intersection of Riverside Road and Symms Road in Canyon County, just west of Lake Lowell.
Reports say John Hall, 23, of Marsing, was driving northbound on Riverside Road in a 2015 Ferguson tractor. Kevin Cherrington, 59, of Nampa, attempted to pass Hall on a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle. Cherrington collided into the tractor as it turned left onto Symms Road, according to the Idaho State Police. Cherrington succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
He was not wearing a helmet, investigators said.
The intersection of Riverside Road and Symms Road was blocked for approximately three hours.
