Published: August 22, 2006 08:40 pm         

Fatal ride: Fund-raising event turns tragic when law officers killed

Box truck hits support vehicle, which collides with riders near Covington

COVINGTON — While raising money for the survivors of police killed in the line of duty, two Indiana officers lost their lives Tuesday afternoon on a charity cycling trip on their way to Terre Haute.

Lt. Gary Dudley, out of the Indiana State Police training division, and Gary Martin, a retired deputy with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, both died when their bicycles were struck by a support van after it was slammed from behind by a box truck along Indiana 63 about two miles south of Interstate 74 (near Covington) around 12:30 p.m.

A third cyclist, Spencer Moore, of the Indianapolis Police Department, was airlifted to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill. with non-life-threatening injuries, Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Joe Watts said.

The support vehicle was following a group of 10 cyclists along the highway with its hazard lights flashing and bearing a banner that read “Caution: Cyclists Ahead,” Watts said.

The driver of the support van, Rocky Bumpas of Mooresville as well as the driver of the box truck, Gary Adams of Owensboro, Ky., were taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Williamsport with non-life-threatening injuries, according to authorities.

Watts said there was no indication that alcohol was involved. Crash reconstructionists were investigating the cause of the crash. The highway was closed about 12:35 p.m. and remained so until about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday evening, with all traffic being rerouted.

The cycling event is part of an annual charity fundraiser by the group Indiana Concerns of Police Survivors. The COPS Web site posted that the group had raised more than $35,000 during the 2005 event toward providing financial assistance to family members of fallen officers.

The bike ride was scheduled to take place Aug. 16-28, with more than 30 cyclists participating from various police agencies around Indiana. The group started in Greenfield on the east side of the state and had traveled north through Bluffton, Angola, Walkerton and Merrillville before arriving in Kentland, about 90 miles north of Terre Haute.

Tuesday’s route was from Kentland to Terre Haute, and the riders made it about halfway before the crash.

The ride was planned to end in Indianapolis at Crown Hill Cemetery after a total of 1,100 miles. The 30 riders would take different portions of the trip, with eight of them planning to do the entire route.

The 10 cyclists on Tuesday’s ride represented the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police, as well as the Merrillville, Fishers and Bloomington Police Departments.

Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.