Motorcyclist Killed in Chase; Closes I-20

A motorcycle rider was killed during a police chase on westbound Interstate 20 near Bonnie View in southern Dallas early Thursday morning, closing the highway for several hours.

All westbound lanes of I-20 were closed near Bonnie View from about 2:30 a.m. until just before 8 a.m.

A Hutchins police officer was trying to stop the speeding motorcycle rider at about 2:30 a.m., but the officer said the biker, later identified as 47-year-old William Baldwin of Grand Prairie, accelerated to get away from him.

A short distance later, police said Baldwin came up on a group of 18-wheelers and tried to weave through the trucks. Baldwin ended up crashing into the back of one of the trailers and he was thrown from the bike.

The impact was so severe that it bent the crash bar on the back of the trailer.

Baldwin, along with the motorcycle, caught fire after the crash and died at the scene. The motorcycle was scattered into pieces up to several hundred yards away.

Police said Baldwin was coming from a bar in Mesquite and was going 85 mph when the Hutchins officer initiated a traffic stop.  Baldwin, who was married, had a criminal history with Dallas County. Officials said he was arrested for assault/family violence but the case was dismissed in 2005.

The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured.

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