Motorcycle Hits Car, Catches Fire
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EL TORO — Authorities are seeking a Las Vegas, Nev., man who rammed his motorcycle into a Cadillac on the Santa Ana Freeway on Thursday, then skidded down the pavement on his bike, which burst into flames.
The biker miraculously got up and fled the scene, CHP said.
A SigAlert was issued at 4:40 p.m. as traffic backed up for 5 miles, the California Highway Patrol said.
Officers said two motorcycles were racing on the freeway at speeds of up to 95 m.p.h. when one of the riders rear-ended the Cadillac.
The rider was thrown onto the trunk of the car, fell off and skidded about 400 feet down the pavement, a CHP dispatcher said. His bike, which was skidding in the same direction, burst into flames but did not hit him, the dispatcher said.
The CHP said the second motorcyclist, Paul Nelson, identified the runaway biker as Gilbert Rodriguez. Nelson and Rodriguez are both 18 and are from Las Vegas, the CHP said.
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