'Gives me a kiss, says I love you': Wife recalls morning husband killed in motorcycle crash
Updated: 3:27 PM EDT Sep 20, 2022
WE COME UP IN A MOMENT. JACKIE: LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE PIEDMONT TRIAD JUST ANNOUNCED THE ARREST OF THREE MEN IN CONNECTION TO SEPARATE OVERDOSE DEATHS. IN ALAMANCE COUNTY, RONALD JOHNSON AND AARON PARSONS ARE CHARGED IN A CASE THAT HAPPENED NEARLY A YEAR AGO. JOHNSON WAS ARRESTED LAST WEEK AND IS BEING CHARGED WITH DEATH BY DISTRIBUTION. PARSONS WAS ARRESTED YESTERDAY FOR AIDING AND ABETTING. ACCORDING TO THE ALAMANCE COUNTY NARCOTICS ENFORCEMENT TEAM, THE DEADLY OVERDOSE HAPPENED IN BURLINGTON IN NOVEMBER OF 2021. THE MEN ARE IN JAIL ON $200,000 BOND EACH. IN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, THIS MAN IS IN CUSTODY IN CONNECTION TO AN OVERDOSE DEATH THAT HAPPENED IN JUNE. DEPUTIES ARRESTED WILLIAM CROWE YESTERDAY. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE TELLS US THEY BELIEVE CROWE SOLD DRUGS TO JAMES HOLDER. HOLDER LATER DIED OF AN OVERDOSE AT A HOME ON OLD MILL ROAD IN SUMMERFIELD. CROWE IS IN JAIL ON A $250,000 BOND. INVESTIGATORS IN ORANGE COUNTY ARE TRYING TO FIND ANSWERS IN THE MURDERS OF TWO TEENAGERS. THE FAMILIES OF 14-YEAR-OLD LYRIC WOODS AND 18-YEAR-OLD DEVIN CLARK REPORTED THEM MISSING OVER THE WEEKEND. THEIR BODIES WERE FOUND SUNDAY ALONG BUCKHORN ROAD IN MEBANE, SHOT. LYRIC WAS A STUDENT AT CEDAR RIDGE HIGH IN HILLSBOROUGH. AND DEVIN WAS A FOOTBALL PLAYER AT EASTERN ALAMANCE HIGH SCHOOL. ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES, THE TEENS HAD GOTTEN INTO A CAR WITH A THIRD PERSON IN THE HOURS BEFORE THEY WERE REPORTED MISSING. IT’S NOT CLEAR WHO THAT PERSON WAS. >> WHO WAS THE OTHER PERSON? WHO WAS THE PERSON THAT PICKED THEM UP? WHO WERE THE PEOPLE THAT DROPPED THEM OFF? >> HE NEVER HURT NOBODY. FOR HIM TO GET DONE LIKE THIS -- I HAVE TO HAVE ANSWERS. JACKIE: THAT WAS DEVIN CLARK’S MOTHER. PEOPLE LIVING NEAR WHERE THE TEENS WERE FOUND TOLD INVESTIGATORS THEY HEARD GUNSHOTS FRIDAY NIGHT. >> I HEARD CLOSE TO 10 SHOTS, AN AUTOMATIC GUN, AND THAT I PAUSED AND FIVE MORE SHOTS WENT OFF. JACKIE: AUTHORITIES HAVE NOT RELEASED ANY OTHER DETAILS. THE FAMILY OF LYRIC WOODS IS OFFERING A $10,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION. STUDENTS AND STAFF AT EASTERN ALAMANCE HIGH SCHOOL GATHERED TO REMEMBER DEVIN CLARK. A BALLOON RELEASE WAS HELD IN HIS HONOR YESTERDAY. A STATEMENT FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SAYS, "DEVIN WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS A KIND-HEARTED, GENTLE GIANT WHO WAS WELL LIKED BY HIS CLASSMATES." A HEADS UP FOR DRIVERS IN GUILFORD COUNTY. GREENSBORO POLICE ARE TAKING PART IN OPERATION "CLEAR TRACK." OFFICERS ARE STATIONED AT THE RAILROAD TRACKS ALONG EAST MARKET STREET TO HELP EDUCATE DRIVERS ABOUT THE DANGER OF RAILROAD CROSSINGS AND TRESPASSING LAWS. THE D.O.T. SAYS YOU SHOULD NEVER WALK, JOG OR TAKE PICTURES ON THE TRACKS BECAUSE IT IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. AND DRIVERS SHOULD NEVER STOP THEIR VEHICLE ON THE TRACKS. >> TRAINS ARE TYPICALLY MOVING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. FOR EXAMPLE, A TRAIN TRAVELING AT 55 MILES PER HOUR, FULLY LOADED, TAKES A MILE TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. IN AN INSTANT WHERE IT HAS TO STOP IN A HURRY, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE. JACKIE: SO FAR THIS YEAR, THERE HAVE BEEN 41 RAIL CROSSING CRASHES. IF THERE IS AN EMERGENCY, CALL THE NUMBER ON THE BLUE SIGN AT THE CROSSING TO ALERT THE RAILROAD. THE WINSTON-SALEM CITY COUNCIL WILL REVISIT THE PLAN TO SELL A PLOT OF CITY-OWNED LAND AT THE MEETING NEXT MONTH. THEY DELAYED THE VOTE TO SELL NEARLY NINE ACRES IN THE HAPPY HILL COMMUNITY TO THE ARTS-BASED SCHOOL LAST NIGHT. RIGHT NOW, THAT LAND IS OWNED FOR MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. COUNCILMEMBERS ALSO SET A PUBLIC HEARING SO NEIGHBORS CAN GET MORE INFORMATION. THAT MEETING IS SET FOR NEXT WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28.
'Gives me a kiss, says I love you': Wife recalls morning husband killed in motorcycle crash
Updated: 3:27 PM EDT Sep 20, 2022
Ricky Bernard's widow says she knew the minute she saw the skid marks left by her husband's motorcycle that he must have fought with everything he had to try and stop.Click the video player above to watch the latest headlines from WXII 12 News."Gives me a kiss, says 'I love you. I'll see you later' and I went and started my new job at the Waterboro school district," said Katie Bernard. "A couple hours later I got a phone call, and it was the worst phone call I've ever had."Bernard never imagined last Thursday would be the last time she would ever see her husband. He never made it to work that morning."He liked the open wind. He enjoyed his motorcycle. He never thought anything like this would happen to him. He was the safest driver I had ever met," Bernard said.Richard "Ricky" Bernard was 47 years old. Police said his motorcycle crashed into a pickup truck that was towing a trailer on the County Road in Gorham about 8 a.m. Four days after the crash, Katie Bernard stopped at the police headquarters to retrieve her husband's belongings. The father of six will be laid to rest on Wednesday."He was a fun, fun amazing guy," Bernard said. "Very quirky. He always had something to say about everything. He was never wrong," she said.This past Saturday night in Brunswick, a motorcycle crashed into a utility pole while rounding a corner. Police said the rider was wearing a helmet and taken to Maine Medical Center. Also on Saturday, in Auburn, a motorcyclist was taken to Central Maine Medical Center after police said he didn't stop at a red light and hit a car.Katie Bernard, now a widow, is urging drivers and motorcycle riders everywhere to use extra caution."Just driving here, there was several people just cutting us off, not looking, I mean running lights. It's not just a game. You've got to pay attention," she said.With every statistic, there is a family left behind to grieve."You don't know what's going to happen until it happens. Now I have children that won't ever have their dad anymore," Bernard said.Bernard said her husband was not wearing a helmet, but she said she wishes now that he had.Trending Stories
Ricky Bernard's widow says she knew the minute she saw the skid marks left by her husband's motorcycle that he must have fought with everything he had to try and stop.
Click the video player above to watch the latest headlines from WXII 12 News.
"Gives me a kiss, says 'I love you. I'll see you later' and I went and started my new job at the Waterboro school district," said Katie Bernard. "A couple hours later I got a phone call, and it was the worst phone call I've ever had."
Bernard never imagined last Thursday would be the last time she would ever see her husband. He never made it to work that morning.
"He liked the open wind. He enjoyed his motorcycle. He never thought anything like this would happen to him. He was the safest driver I had ever met," Bernard said.
Richard "Ricky" Bernard was 47 years old. Police said his motorcycle crashed into a pickup truck that was towing a trailer on the County Road in Gorham about 8 a.m. Four days after the crash, Katie Bernard stopped at the police headquarters to retrieve her husband's belongings. The father of six will be laid to rest on Wednesday.
"He was a fun, fun amazing guy," Bernard said. "Very quirky. He always had something to say about everything. He was never wrong," she said.
This past Saturday night in Brunswick, a motorcycle crashed into a utility pole while rounding a corner. Police said the rider was wearing a helmet and taken to Maine Medical Center. Also on Saturday, in Auburn, a motorcyclist was taken to Central Maine Medical Center after police said he didn't stop at a red light and hit a car.
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