HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The Harris County Sheriff's Office has identified a 25-year-old motorcyclist who died Monday morning after falling 90 feet from an elevated connector ramp in Katy.
Ismael David Hernandez-Pernia was riding a black 2025 Kawasaki Ninja 500 eastbound on the Katy Freeway at about 3:40 a.m. when the fatal accident occurred on the elevated Grand Parkway South connector ramp linking Interstate 10 to Highway 99.
"While maneuvering the right curve, Mr. Hernandez-Pernia failed to drive in a single lane, causing him to strike the concrete barrier on the northwest side of the roadway," said a statement from the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Mr. Hernandez Pernia separated from his motorcycle and fell approximately 90 feet."
It was an alert motorist who contacted the Sheriff's Office about the crash.
"A passerby observed Mr. Hernandez-Pernia's motorcycle lying on its side near the wall and called 911 out of concern for the operator of the motorcycle," the Sheriff's Office statement said.
Emergency medical personnel found Hernandez-Pernia "with no signs of life" when they arrived at the scene.
Multiple Motorcycle Crashes Across Harris County Monday Morning
A short distance away there was another motorcyclist who crashed in the managed lanes of the Katy Freeway near Park Ten Boulevard. That crash created problems for commuters but was not listed as a fatality by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Further northeast, at the same time, deputies were responding to the death of 29-year-old Triston Dale in Atascocita after his 2007 Yamaha struck a Jeep on Atascocita Road.
"The operator of the motorcycle may have been speeding and struck the right front quarter of the Jeep with the front of the motorcycle," a Sheriff's Office report said.
The driver of the Jeep was transported to the hospital by EMS and treated for non-life threatening injuries according to the accident report.