Man dies in motorcycle
wreck
Trace Christenson
The Enquirer
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A motorcycle playground turned deadly Wednesday night when a Battle Creek man crashed his high-speed stunt bike.
Robert Celentano, 27, was dead on arrival at Battle Creek Health System after the 7:10 p.m. accident Wednesday on I-94 at the M-66 exit, according to Michigan State Police at Battle Creek.
Lt. Dale Peet, post commander, said Celentano was eastbound on the interstate and had just completed a high-speed "wheel walk," lifting the motorcycle onto its back wheel, when he attempted to leave the freeway and lost control on the exit ramp to southbound M-66.
The motorcycle began cartwheeling, throwing Celentano before coming to rest about 200 feet from the ramp, Peet said.
"It is something with these high-speed stunts that we see or hear about," Peet said. "They are doing stunts on the highway, riding wheelies and driving at excessive speed and it is unsafe out there on I-94."
Peet said Celentano was riding with Jozef Tomasovich, 20, of Burlington, and a friend was videotaping from a parking lot near the Capital Avenue bridge as Celentano performed the wheel walk, lifting the bike nearly vertical.
Tomasovich told troopers he was traveling about 100 mph when Celentano pulled away after he had finished the wheel walk.
A trooper, westbound on the freeway, also saw the stunt. Tomasovich said he believed Celentano would continue eastbound on the freeway, but he lost control when he attempted to leave the interstate, troopers said.
Tomasovich was not hurt, troopers said, and is cooperating with the investigation.
The videotape of the stunt was seized, although Peet said it doesn't show the accident.
J.W. Rayburn said he was riding a motorcycle behind Celentano and Tomasovich and watched the crash.
"He came into that turn and his back tire began to chatter, started hopping and he was way too hot, way too fast. When the back tire starts skipping, you are done."
Rayburn estimated the motorcycle was traveling between 65 and 90 mph when Celentano turned onto the ramp.
"I enjoy riding and going fast, but they were pulling some stupid stuff," Rayburn said.
Rayburn said the curves of the I-94 and M-66 interchange are a popular place for motorcyclists to make high-speed entrances and exits.
"We usually meet up at the cloverleaf," he said. "It's a pretty good place to pull some stunts. It's the closest thing to a race track. You see other biker friends, and you show them what you got. It's just fun to get together and ride."
Another Battle Creek motorcyclist, Nicholas Diehl, 25, owner of Assassins Motorcycle Shop in Springfield and a member of the 30-member Assassins Motorcycle Club, said doing stunts on the interstate is dangerous.
"It's not so much about us making a mistake but about the other drivers," he said. "I have never ridden out there, but the cloverleaf is a good place to do high-speed cornering."
Diehl, who estimated about 200 to 300 Battle Creek residents between 18 and 29 are riding high-performance motorcycles, said Celentano was considered an excellent rider but that stunts on the highway give motorcyclists "a bad reputation. We don't want to see anyone get hurt. What we do can reflect on other riders."
He said the motorcycle Celentano was riding could hit 200 mph.
Members of his club find deserted roads to practice their stunts and frequently police officers stop to watch, he said.
Diehl said he has done wheel walking at 140 mph, but also can lift the bike up at walking speeds. He said stunt riding is addictive.
"It's like a drug. We don't drink or do drugs, but this is our drug, but we do it in a safe way," Diehl said.
He said the accident could cause a crackdown on riders, both from friends and family and from law enforcement.
"The last thing we need is more cops mad at us," he said.
Celentano grew up on Long Island, N.Y., according to Vickie MacDonald of Battle Creek. He had been dating MacDonald's daughter, Malissa, since they met in Florida in 2003.
The MacDonalds returned to Battle Creek a short time after moving to Florida and Celentano followed them in March 2004.
He was working odd jobs and waiting for Malissa to finish high school. They planned to move back to Florida where Malissa would go to school and they would marry.
"He was a guy who was really full of life," Vickie MacDonald said. "He always had 10 friends down at his apartment, and he loved kids. He would always grill out for the kids.
"He also loved animals," she said, including his English bulldog, Tyson. "He drove all the way to Texas to buy him for $3,000. That was his boy."
MacDonald's sister, Lisa Mullineaux of Athens, said Celentano was overwhelmed when her family all gave him gifts for Christmas.
"He got all teary-eyed," she said. "He actually cried.
"I remember the first time he saw a squirrel. He wasn't used to that, being from the city. He loved the wildlife. He was always so happy. He was a loving, gentle man."
Vickie MacDonald said Celentano had been riding and racing motorcycles for years.
"He liked fast motorcycles, but I said you can't do that with Malissa on the back. He said, 'Mom, I would never do that with her. I would never drive fast with her.'"
"You are always afraid," she said. "I said it scares me but he said, 'I have been riding for years. You don't have anything to worry about.' He was real good on a motorcycle. I didn't think it would happen to him."
Topic: Man dies in motorcycle wreck/Michigan (Read 3703 times)