Pond, 47, suffered a broken eye socket, four broken ribs and a broken shoulder bone along with other head injuries and road rash. He was not wearing a helmet.

Pond was traveling north of Hartville on Wyoming 270 Thursday when he lost control of his 1999 Harley Davidson at a speed of 60-65 mph, said Lt. David Cunningham of the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

''He was riding down the highway and he turned around with his camera to take a picture of the rider behind him,'' Cunningham said.

The motorcycle drifted to the right and was headed for a pole. As Pond tried to bring it back onto the highway he lost control, the trooper said, causing the cycle to overturn and throw him to the asphalt.

Pond was airlifted to Regional West Medical Center and underwent surgery Thursday.

A hospital official said Friday that Pond in satisfactory condition. Hospital personnel could not be reached Saturday.

The sheriff was traveling with a colleague and the colleague's brother to an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.

Submitted on 08/10/2003

Submitted by: Grayson McNees
Reference: http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_de

Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com

Gregory said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I agree it lacks that Darwin feel, but I will defer to the majority opinion.

Bill said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Any of those mistakes by itself would be "too common". Altogether I would prefer some more "umph", but let the readers decide.

Bert said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Agreed- Cops see enough folks who got turned into hamburger on bikes to know better! Let the viewers have it, someone will write it up better, hopefully. BTW- http://www2.b3ta.com/motorbikes/

Jack said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
A better write up would have been nicer, but I do feel that this is at least worth an Honorable Mention. Let the readers decide.

Charles said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Riding without a helmet. Turning around to take a picture of someone else -- both hands off the handlebars at 60MPH. And as a police officer he certainly should have seen some helmetless motorcycle injuries before. But still, I don't know... just doesn't seem to have that Darwin feel about it.

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