Friends of veteran killed in Raleigh motorcycle crash want answers

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Blake Tercero left work at Rollout Auto in Fayetteville on Thursday to get a new phone in Raleigh.

He never returned.

The 29-year-old former Fort Bragg soldier died in a motorcycle wreck on Glenwood Avenue near Hollyridge Drive.

"He had the best sense of humor and he lived life every day to the fullest," said his friend, Aaron Satterly. "He loved life."

The crash report issued by the Raleigh Police Department said Tercero was speeding, popped a wheelie and sideswiped another vehicle, running off the road and striking a tree.

But Randy Kincy, of Rougemont, who said he witnessed it all while driving on Glenwood Avenue, said that's not what happened.

Kincy said Tercero wasn't speeding and was trying to avoid another vehicle that kept going in his lane. In fact, Kincy said Tercero was being responsible.

After a red light on Glenwood Avenue turned green, Kincy said, Tercero performed a maneuver on his motorcycle, where his front wheels went up for a short time. That's known as a hiccup, not technically a wheelie. However, Kincy said it was well before the incident.

Kincy said a vehicle went onto Glenwood Avenue from an access road, and crossed three lanes of traffic into Tercero's left-side lane. He said Tercero moved into the center lane, where the vehicle followed. So Tercero moved to the right lane to avoid the vehicle. Kincy said the vehicle also went into the right lane, jerking the wheels to the right and blocking his path. Kincy said Tercero hit the other car on the front, not on the side, Kincy said, and he adding that Tercero didn't have enough time to react.

People have been posting different accounts of what happened on social media.

ABC11 called the driver involved but she said she didn't want to talk, instead referring ABC11 to another person who was a witness to the incident.

Joshua Jacobs, of Raleigh, told ABC11 he was at the Starbucks on Glenwood Avenue shortly before the incident. He said he talked to Tercero there, complimenting his bike.

Tercero left. When the light turned green on Glenwood Avenue, Jacobs said Tercero gunned it and popped up on one wheel. Jacobs said Tercero was on one wheel before the light even turned green.

Jacobs said Tercero was speeding down the road and collided with the driver's vehicle. He said there is no way the driver could have avoided the crash

Both Kincy and Jacobs said they called 911.

The 911 calls have not been released yet.

When asked about the witness accounts, Raleigh Police said the crash remains under investigation and that they are encouraging anybody with any information to contact them.

Tercero's friends say they are speaking up on his behalf since he's not here to defend himself.

They said Tercero, who was part of the 82nd Airborne Division, loved to ride and was a responsible rider.

"Blake was a very safety-oriented, safety-minded individual," Satterly said. "You can call it stemming from the military. You can call it stemming from just being human."

"For him to be able to come from that stoplight and pop a wheelie and go into three lanes of traffic and still have time to go all the way over here is nearly impossible because you have to have at least 7,000 RPMs to be able to do that," said Anthony Harris, Rollout Co-Owner.

Friends said they're planning a memorial ride in Tercero's honor. He leaves behind a young daughter.

"He needs to go out with a hero's sendoff, not the slander and the recklessness that they're saying he was when he never was," Harris said.

"As military, we've got, it's an old statement, until Valhalla," Satterly said. "It literally means we'll see each other again. It's our goodbye."

If you have any information about what happened, contact the Raleigh Police Department.