PENDLETON, Ind. —
Terry Palmer was one of an about 2,500 participating in a fundraising motorcycle ride that left Pendleton on Sunday morning.
The "Ride for Justice" was in memory of the man who was hit and killed by an Indianapolis Metro Police officer and to raise funds for that man’s family as well as the other two, who remain hospitalized, hit in the August crash.
IMPD Officer David Bisard hit Eric Wells, 30, and his friends around 11:20 a.m. Aug. 6 in Indianapolis. Blood taken from Bisard two hours later showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent, well over the legal limit, according to The Indianapolis Star. But drunken-driving charges against him were dropped, as the test was done improperly.
The FBI is investigating the department’s handling of the case, and there is an internal IMPD probe.
"This ride is about making sure that he is held accountable for his actions," Palmer said of Bisard and the department, which has been accused of trying to hamper the investigation. "It was a very emotional event."
The mass of riders left Pendleton’s American Legion Post 117 shortly after 10 a.m. and drove west on State Road 38. They drove to the scene of the crash where Wells was killed and Mary Mills, 47, and Kurt Weekly, 44, were critically injured. They also drove to Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
Cathy Neel, one of the event’s organizers, said Weekly remained in a coma and Mills is still hospitalized.
"This is a benefit ride for the victims and their family," Neel said, declining to comment on IMPD or the investigation. "It is like a sisterhood and a brotherhood among riders. We want to stand up and be supportive of each other. That is what we are doing with this ride, whatever we can do to take care of our own. The investigation has nothing to do with the ride."
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard was in Pendleton to speak to the participants before the ride began. He vowed to help the families involved get answers and said that the city "owes the family the truth."
