The Columbia Police Department’s (CPD) Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) is investigating a fatal collision involving a dirt bike and an ice cream truck last night.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the dirt bike driver, identified by Richland County Coroner Gary Watts as 26-year-old Rolland Graves of Columbia, was traveling at a high rate of speed while operating the vehicle without the use of headlights when the collision occurred on Bailey Street.
The ice cream truck was attempting to turn left into a parking lot and did not see the dirt bike driver when the two vehicles made impact.
Graves was taken to a local hospital and pronounced deceased a short time later. Coroner Watts’ autopsy indicates that the cause of death was due to multiple trauma.