Motorcyclist Killed After Popping Wheelies Along Lakeland Highway

LAKELAND, FL — A 31-year-old motorcyclist was killed over the weekend after witnesses spotted him popping wheelies along U.S. Highway 98, according to the Lakeland Police Department.

A spokesperson for the agency said Valentin Dasent was pronounced dead on the scene Saturday night when he lost control of his blue Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle and struck a Ford Escape around 8:39 p.m.

"As the motorcycle approached the 5000 block of U.S. 98 North, it began accelerating at a high rate of speed, lifting the front wheel off the roadway and merging into the center lane," said a spokesperson for the agency. "At the same time, the driver of the Ford began making a u-turn and traveled into the outside southbound lane."

The spokesperson said Dasent lost control of the motorcycle as the Suzuki's front wheel landed on the roadway and struck the rear driver's side of the red Ford.

"Dasent was ejected, and the Suzuki was disabled on impact, sliding to final rest in the center lane," the spokesperson explained. "The driver of the Ford, 74-year-old Linda Halifax, slowed to a controlled stop just off the west side of the roadway."

The spokesperson said Lakeland police officers and Polk County Fire Rescue and Lakeland Fire Department personnel performed life-saving measures but were unable to save Dasent, who lived in Lakeland. He was pronounced dead around 8:50 p.m.

The road was shut down for about three-and-a-half hours. The crash remains under investigation, according to the spokesperson.

The passengers of the Ford were identified as 52-year-old Brian Donald Halifax and 80-year-old Richard Eugene Halifax of Lakeland. All three people inside the Ford are also Lakeland residents.