Four sailors died last weekend in separate off-duty motorcycle accidents, according to Navy and local police.
They are the first four motorcycle fatalities in the Navy ranks for Fiscal Year 2019, which began Oct. 1, according to Naval Safety Center data.
Fourteen sailors died in similar motorcycle accidents in Fiscal 2018, down from 21 in Fiscal 2017, according to the Navy.
Two of the recent fatalities happened in California, with the third occurring in Virginia. The fourth took place in Florida.
They involved an officer, a junior sailor, a petty officer and a senior enlisted leader, according to Navy records.
At about 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 10 in Chesapeake, Virginia, Chief Information Systems Technician Juan L. Roldan Jr. was riding his motorcycle when he attempted to pass some other motorcyclists, according to Chesapeake Police spokesman Leo Kosinski.
“He lost control and wrecked in a ditch, dying from those sustained injuries,” Kosinski said.
The 41-year-old chief lived in Chesapeake and the accident investigation continues, Kosinski said.
He enlisted in 1996, put on chief in 2014, and was assigned to the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command in Suffolk since 2016, according to service records.
About an hour later, in Melbourne, Florida, Cryptologic Technician-Collection Seaman Brandon M. Thurber was riding a motorcycle when he collided with a car in an intersection and died at the scene of the accident, according to Melbourne police.
The 18-year-old was from Melbourne, enlisted in December and was on Permanent Change of Station leave, according to police and Navy records.
He had reported to Navy Information Operations Command at Fort Gordon, Georgia, on Oct. 30, service records show.
The crash remains under investigation.
Out on the West Coast that same day, Lt. William J. Hamilton was merging his motorcycle onto a highway in Monterey, California, at about 5:30 p.m. when he lost control and struck a center divider.
Why he crashed remains unknown, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Paramedics rushed the submariner to a hospital but he died of his injuries about an hour later, according to CHP.
The 28-year-old New York native was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. He had previously served aboard the guided missile submarine Georgia, according to service records.
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On the following morning, Nov. 11, Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Jay D. Wilson, 29, died in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident in San Diego, according to the Navy.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that the helmeted Wilson was driving westbound on State Road 52 West on the exit to the La Jolla Parkway when witnesses said he lost control of the motorcycle and drove into the guardrail.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. His autopsy determined that he died from blunt force injuries.
Originally from Oregon, Wilson enlisted in 2012 and had been stationed with the “Wildcards” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 in Coronado, California, since 2015, according to service records.
The Navy requires sailors to consult with their chief or first officer in their chain of command before buying a motorcycle, and all sailors who plan to purchase or ride a motorcycle are required to complete training, according to the safety center.
Editor’s note: Due to an editing error, this story misidentified the submarine Georgia. It was turned into a guided-missile submarine in 2008.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
