The first collision involved a motorcycle and a Toyota pickup truck.
“The driver of the pickup told us he was distracted and when he looked up, he observed a motorcycle traveling at slow speed in front of him,” Graves said.
“The driver of the pickup could not stop in time and collided with the rear of the motorcycle. The rider of the motorcycle was thrown from his bike and deceased on scene.”
He was identified as 56-yearold Richard Trahar of Gold Canyon.
The second crash occurred within a minute of the first one, Graves said. Traffic slowed to a stop because of the first collision. A Honda passenger car with one male driver stopped at the scene. A Ford Expedition failed to stop in time and in time and rear-ended the Honda killing the driver, Harry E. Willis, 68, of Apache Junction.
Dave Montgomery, deputy fire chief for the Apache Junction Fire District, said AJFD paramedics worked on Trahar and Willis, but neither victim responded to life-saving measures.
The driver and passenger of the truck that hit the motorcycle were not injured, neither was the driver of the SUV, Montgomery said.
A bystander suffered a cut hand while helping with patient treatment.
Department of Public Safety and AJPD were investigating the scene.
U.S. Highway 60 westbound was blocked for four hours from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
By Christina FuocoKarasinski
