Claremont Man Dies in Weekend Motorcycle Crash in Lakeville

Original report by Michael Garlitz - Lakeville Patch

UPDATE, SUNDAY 6:40 P.M.: Police say a 26-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash on Cedar Avenue just north of 202nd Street on Saturday evening.

KSTP.com says Lakeville police identified the victim as James Alan Batten II of Claremont.

Preliminary reports say Batten was driving his motorcycle north of Cedar Avenue at about 6:20 p.m. when it struck the rear of a vehicle turning north on to Cedar from 202nd Street. Batten was thrown from the motorcycle and hit the vehicle and pavement.

Batten was pronounced dead at the scene.

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ORIGINAL STORY, SATURDAY: Lakeville police roadblocked northbound traffic on Cedar Avenue at 210th Street on Saturday evening for what appeared to be a fatal crash involving a motorcycle.

The crash happened at roughly 6:20 p.m. just north of the intersection of Cedar Avenue and 202th Street.

When this reporter arrived at the scene of the crash, emergency personnel from ALF Ambulance and the Lakeville Fire and Police departments were seen performing chest compressions on a victim. They ended compressions after several minutes and placed a white sheet over the victim.

Onlookers could see a motorcycle laying on the pavement. Several cars were parked on the shoulder of the highway several feet from the motorcycle, but it was not certain whether those vehicles were involved in the crash.

Lakeville police cruisers and a Lakeville Fire Department rescue truck blocked the cutout to northbound Cedar Avenue at 202th Street to oncoming traffic. Southbound traffic on Cedar moved freely through the incident scene.