Motorcyclist killed in crash is identified

The Durango Police Department investigates an SUV that collided with a motorcycle on Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 550/160. The SUV hit the motorcycle that was stopped at the light. The motorcyclist, Tim Cooper, 52, was later pronounced dead.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

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The Durango Police Department investigates an SUV that collided with a motorcycle on Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 550/160. The SUV hit the motorcycle that was stopped at the light. The motorcyclist, Tim Cooper, 52, was later pronounced dead.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Tim Cooper, 52, died after a crash Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 when an SUV crashed into his motorcycle, which was stopped behind a Ford pickup, according to the Durango Police Department. The crash caused the southbound lane of the highway to be closed for about three hours.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

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Tim Cooper, 52, died after a crash Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 when an SUV crashed into his motorcycle, which was stopped behind a Ford pickup, according to the Durango Police Department. The crash caused the southbound lane of the highway to be closed for about three hours.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The Durango Police Department investigates an SUV that collided with a motorcycle on Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 550/160. The SUV hit the motorcycle that was stopped at the light. The motorcyclist, Tim Cooper, 52, was later pronounced dead.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

×

The Durango Police Department investigates an SUV that collided with a motorcycle on Monday morning on Colorado Highway 3 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 550/160. The SUV hit the motorcycle that was stopped at the light. The motorcyclist, Tim Cooper, 52, was later pronounced dead.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

A motorcyclist was killed Monday morning in a three-vehicle crash that shut down the southbound lane on Colorado Highway 3 in Durango for about three hours.

The motorcyclist, Tim Cooper, 52, was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center where he died, said La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith.

Cooper was stopped behind an F-150 pickup at a traffic light and waiting to turn left onto U.S. Highway 550/160 from Highway 3 when they were hit from behind by a Toyota SUV, said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman for the Durango Police Department,

The driver of the SUV, Michele Northcutt, 51, pushed the motorcycle into the truck, Shupe said.

“(The motorcycle) caught fire as soon as it impacted the pickup,” he said.

Charges against Northcutt, a Durangoan, are pending.

The driver of the truck is Emilio Marquez, 22, from Mancos.

Emergency responders evaluated Northcutt and Marquez, but neither was taken to a hospital.

Any witnesses are asked to call Officer Ron Wysocki 375-4777, ext. 8127.

mshinn@durangoherald.com