CARLISLE TWP. – An Elyria man was killed Saturday after he was knocked from his motorcycle by a deer and then run over by an SUV.

Brian Rogers, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 2:15 p.m. crash on state Route 301 north of U.S. Route 20.

The deer that struck Rogers was thrown into his southbound 2001 Harley-Davidson motorcycle after it was hit by a 2007 Toyota Prius driven by 59-year-old James Cox Jr., who was driving north at the time, said Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Crystal Evans.

After the deer hit him, Rogers was thrown from his motorcycle and run over by a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by Tim Kader, 57, who was northbound.

Kader, of Carlisle Township, said he tried to swerve to avoid hitting Rogers after he saw the deer “cartwheel” through the air.

“He went down right in front of me. He rolled right in front of me,” Kader said. “There was nothing I could do.”

Rogers’ motorcycle continued to slide down the road, striking a 2003 Dodge Stratus driven by Michele Kennedy Diaz, 41, of Lorain, Evans said. None of the drivers involved in the crash has been cited, and the crash remains under investigation.

Deputy Lorain County Coroner Vernon Patterson said Rogers, who was not wearing a helmet, sustained fatal injuries in the accident, including several broken bones.

“Falling off the bike didn’t kill him. He died, more than likely, from being hit by the SUV,” Patterson said. “… He died instantly.”

Cox, of Oberlin, was taken to EMH Regional Medical Center for minor cuts to his arms and hands caused by glass from his windshield, which the deer smashed into when it ran into the road from the west side, Evans said.

Floyd Strader of Vermilion was at a nearby home when the crash occurred. He said the deer got up and ran off behind the homes along the east side of the road.

Rogers, who was a member of Wings of Change, a motorcycle club whose members are recovering alcoholics, was on a poker run with fellow bikers, Patterson said. Rogers was riding alone when the crash occurred, but several of his fellow bikers arrived at the scene moments later.

Rogers was a tugboat operator and was heavily involved with the Deputies, an Elyria-based baton, flag and drum corps, said Linda Jones, the organization’s director. In addition to his daughter, she said Rogers also had a stepson serving in the military overseas.

She said Rogers’ daughter was among the group’s members, and he would walk alongside the girls as they marched, giving them water when they needed it and picking up batons the girls dropped.

Jones said Rogers and his wife, Barb Rogers, renewed their wedding vows in March on the same day the Deputies performed at a Cleveland Cavaliers home game. After the ceremony they went to see their daughter perform, she said.

Rogers, Jones said, was a very positive person.

“I can’t think of one negative thing he ever said,” she said.

Lucy Goldsmith, a Chronicle-Telegram employee who also knew Rogers through the Deputies, said he was upbeat and well-liked by the girls he worked with.

“He was like another dad to them,” she said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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