A spate of shocking and tragic accidents and crimes have kept law enforcement busy in the Bartlett area over the past week.
The incidents include a non-fatal shooting on I-40, a pedestrian killed on the same interstate, and a motorcyclist who hit a Bartlett curb and broke many bones.
I-40 death
Cars hits an elderly man multiple times as he tried to walk across four lanes of traffic on eastbound I-40 east of Appling Road on May 13.
He has been identified as Anthony M. McGregor, 73, of Cordova.
The man had stopped alongside the eastbound interstate lanes just after 10 p.m., parked his black Cadillac Escalade, and began walking toward a nearby Shelby County Sheriff’s deputy, who was writing a ticket to a driver at a routine traffic stop.
McGregor was struck by a Nissan Altima that was eastbound in the far left lane. Once he was struck, he was then run over by at least one additional vehicle that was east bound on I-40.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured, and no drivers were charged in the accident.
Motorcycle crash
A Memphis motorcyclist passing other vehicles smashed into a curb in Bartlett very early on May 12. The impact sent him flipping into the air and slamming back down onto the pavement.
The man, later identified as Norman R. Spoon, 66, was westbound on Yale Road, about 300 feet west of Kenbridge Drive, on his 2004 Honda VTX1300C.
Two other vehicles going the speed limit of 40 mph blocked both lanes ahead of him.
One of those drivers, William Lowery of Bartlett, told Bartlett police officers the rider passed on the left side of the vehicle in the left lane and apparently did not see the median and curb until it was too late.
Another witness, Kenneth Hopper of Bartlett, estimated the bike was traveling more than 55 mph when it hit the curb. He said the rider flew over the entire median before landing on the street.
Bartlett Fire Department paramedics took Spoon to the Regional Medical Center for his injuries, which included skull fractures, a broken hip, a broken clavicle, a broken leg, two broken arms and broken ribs. Spoon was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
The shooting
Memphis police issued a warrant on May 15 for a suspect in the May 14 shooting of two people (an adult male and female) on Interstate 40 near Appling Road.
A toddler was also in the car but was not injurede.
The man being sought is Darrel Wayne Taylor, 28. He is wanted on three charges of attempted first-degree murder.
A man and a woman were hit during the shooting, which was reported to law enforcement around 8:20 a.m.
No victims were at the scene of the reported shooting when Memphis Police officers arrived, but they located the victims at Methodist North in non-critical condition.
