The Statesboro Police Department’s Capt. Kaleb Moore, who suffered serious injuries when his patrol motorcycle collided with a minivan Wednesday afternoon in front of the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office, is recovering after surgery, SPD Chief Mike Broadhead reported Friday.

“He had surgery yesterday, and he seemed to tolerate it pretty well and is just recovering,” Broadhead said. “He’s still in ICU, and they’re going to play it day-by-day, but he’s better today than he was yesterday. So all things are looking positive, but he’s going to have kind of a long road to recovery.”

Moore, age 48, has served with the Statesboro Police Department about 23 years total in two different tenures and worked several years with one or more other law enforcement agencies. Although the department has one other officer “trained up” for motorcycle patrol duty, Moore is currently the only SPD officer assigned a motorcycle full-time as his duty vehicle, Broadhead said.

Most recently, Moore had been assigned to head the department’s Crash Reduction Unit, which is just being developed.

‘Lights and siren’

Wednesday he was riding north on State Route 73 – part of U.S. Highway 301 – in front of the Sheriff’s Office when the accident occurred at approximately 3:41 p.m., according to a preliminary report from the Georgia State Patrol.

Moore had the marked, 2020 Harley Davidson police bike’s “lights and siren activated, responding to an emergency call,” when he approached from the rear a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country driven by Laronda Hunter, GSP Trooper First Class Chris Cuddington stated in the report.

Hunter, 34, also from Statesboro, was slowing down and turning onto Wilbur Berry Drive when Moore attempted to pass her on the left and the motorcycle struck the van in the left rear, the report states.  It also indicates that Moore, separated from the bike, came to rest 39 feet away on the shoulder of the road.

SCRT follow-up

Cuddington reported that Hunter said she had her turn signal on but that two witnesses wrote statements saying they did not see a blinker in operation on the van. The accident has now been turned over to a GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team for further investigation.

In addition to noting that Moore suffered “suspected serious” injuries, the initial GSP report listed Hunter and her three passengers, ages 10 to 39, as having been transported to East Georgia Regional Medical Center for treatment of “possible injury or complaint.”

As previously reported, Moore was taken by ambulance to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, which is where he remained Friday.

Police Foundation

Friday, the Statesboro Police Foundation Inc. opened a page on Gofundme.com seeking donations to show “support and help fund some of the incidental costs” Moore and his family will face. Click here to go to the page to donate.

Broadhead said the Police Department  has  seen “a tremendous outpouring  of support,” from  people offering  help  and well-wishes for Moore  and  his family and called it “one more example of how  tightknit Statesboro can be when it wants to be.”