Mystery over bizarre incident involving fatally injured motorbike rider ‘dumped’ 8km from crash

Motorbike rider John Hadley sustained critical injuries in a crash, then was dragged into a car and dumped 8km away before dying.

Police are investigating but have not yet laid any charges after motorcyclist John Hadley sustained critical injuries in a crash – and was then loaded into a car and dumped 8km away in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

Witnesses saw a man and a woman stop their car after Mr Hadley’s accident. They said the woman got out and dragged Mr Hadley – a father of six – into the vehicle before driving off.

Emergency crews rushed to Whittington Street, Enfield, about 2am on Wednesday after reports of a crash, involving a motorcyclist travelling east. They found the motorbike but no rider.

A short time later, about 2.40am, paramedics rushed to Mark Court at Ingle Farm – 8km away – after reports a motorcycle rider was unconscious in the street.

Paramedics worked on Mr Hadley, who is understood to have served time in prison, but the 45-year-old died at the scene. A Major Crash investigation has been launched.

Police said on Wednesday evening they had spoken to those involved in picking up Mr Hadley but no charges had been laid.

John Hadley died after a motorbike crash at Enfield. Picture: Facebook

CCTV footage shows Mr Hadley’s bike travelling at high speed before it crashed. Picture: Facebook

CCTV footage shows the motorbike travelling at high speed shortly before the crash.

Markings at the crash scene in Enfield show he slid along on his bike, before being trapped under a van. The bike landed a further 50m down the road.

Whittington Street resident Siteri Lasinajia woke to a loud bang about 2am.

“The motorbike was all the way over there (about 50m away) but the rider was underneath my dad’s van,” Ms Lasainajia, 19, said.

She said the man was moaning very loudly and unable to move.

As Ms Lasainajia spoke to two people who were in a nearby car about calling an ambulance, she said they began to yell.

“They said ‘no we’ve got him, we’ll take him ourselves’ … they looked sketchy … it was just very weird.

“Any normal person would stay and wait for an ambulance, as adults they should’ve been more responsible.”

The motorcycle is removed from the scene at Enfield.

Witnesses Sunil Bhetuwal and Sonu Neupane. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Sunil Bhetuwal and Sonu Neupane watched the incident unfold for about five minutes through their bedroom window on Whittington Street.

“We woke up to the noise, it was someone shouting and crying in pain,” Mr Bhetuwal said.

Ms Neupane said she saw a woman drag the man into a car from the waist up.

“I was surprised there was no ambulance, he was in pain and there was no precaution … she lifted him and sort of dragged him by herself,” said Ms Neupane, who is a nurse.

“There’s a certain way of caring for a patient and if you don’t know, it’s better to not touch him. It’s a big tragedy.”

Mr Bhetuwal believed the motorcyclist could have survived had an ambulance arrived.

“She didn't wait five minutes, if the ambulance was there he would definitely have survived,” he said.

Mark Court resident Mavis O’Connell woke to a woman screaming in her street just before 3am.

“That’s what woke me up ... I thought it was a fight or something,” Ms O’Connell said.

“I pulled my curtain back to have a peek and I nearly fell over ... there were just lots of lights and sirens.”

She said it was sad a man died on her street. “It’s so quiet here, you don’t get things like that happen.”

Police markings on Whittington Street, Enfield, after the crash. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens reminded people to take care on the roads.

“It’s incredibly frustrating. We push the road safety message as often as we possibly can and we have specific campaigns around long weekends and other heightened levels of activity reminding people of their obligations when they’re using our roads. We just want to remind people that bad decisions have devastating consequences,” he said.

Anyone who saw the crash or Mr Hadley should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The number of lives lost on the state’s roads so far this year is now at 22, compared to 19 at the same time last year.

It follows a horror long weekend in SA in which four people were killed in vehicle crashes, making it one of the most deadly since 2006.

An 18-year-old man from Aldinga Beach became the last long weekend fatality after he crashed his Toyota Corolla into a tree on Pages Flat Road at Myponga on Sunday night.

Just after midday on Saturday a road train and ute collided on a causeway on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway between Pimba and Glendambo. The driver of the ute, a 23-year-old from the ACT, and the passenger in the truck, a 57-year-old woman from Para Vista, both died at the scene.

Only hours after that crash, at about 6pm, a 26-year-old Campbelltown man was killed when a ute rolled on a property in Lindley, near Morgan, in the Riverland.