Motorcycle passenger killed during benefit ride for another motorcyclist

OAKDALE, Minn. (KMSP) - A motorcycle passenger was killed in a crash along Highway 120 in Oakdale, Minn. on Saturday afternoon as she was participating in a benefit ride for another motorcyclist killed in a crash earlier this summer.

Minnesota State Patrol officials said 49-year-old Cottage Grove woman Tonia M. Stocking was killed after a Ford Explorer traveling northbound on Highway 120 overcorrected and hit two Harley Davidson motorcycles head-on near 45th Street North.

The Star Tribune reported the pair of motorcycles were participating in a benefit ride with over 150 riders to raise money for Rhonda Thill, whose husband, Randy, died in a motorcycle crash in late June on Highway 61 in St. Paul.

Oakdale man Micaah I. Rostron, 22, was driving the Explorer, and alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. He was wearing a seatbelt and was not injured. Stocking's boyfriend, 53-year-old Steven Silva of Eagan, was driving the motorcycle, and is listed in critical condition at Regions Hospital. Stocking and Silva were not wearing helmets.

The driver of the other motorcycle, Frank M. Turchin, 46, was not injured. His passenger, Karla M. Turchin, 52, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Both are from Cottage Grove and were also not wearing helmets.

On Aug. 31, Department of Public Safety officials announced that 47 motorcyclists have died in crashes so far in 2015, passing the total number of motorcycle fatalities in 2014. Forty-six riders died in 2014.