Stout man killed when motorcycle hits deer on US Route 52
A late-night deer strike on U.S. 52 near mile marker 25 killed Stout rider Anthony P. Evans and drew multiple Adams County emergency crews to Green Township.
A late-night deer strike on U.S. Route 52 in Green Township killed a Stout motorcyclist and brought several Adams County emergency agencies to mile marker 25. The crash happened on a familiar rural corridor for county drivers, where a split-second encounter with wildlife can turn fatal.
The Georgetown Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the crash happened at about 11:41 p.m. June 5, 2026. Investigators said Anthony P. Evans, 65, of Stout, was riding a 1997 Suzuki Intruder 800 eastbound when it hit a deer crossing the roadway. Evans was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.
The crash pulled in a wide response from across the county. Along with the highway patrol, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Manchester Fire and EMS, Adams County EMS, the Adams County Coroner’s Office and Scott & Comb’s Towing all assisted at the scene. The patrol said the crash remains under investigation.
The deadly wreck fits a statewide pattern that Ohio traffic officials have tracked for years. The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s deer-crash bulletin says 109,507 deer-involved crashes occurred in Ohio from 2019 through 2024, including 44 fatal crashes that caused 45 deaths. Motorcycles were involved in just 1% of deer crashes overall, but in 80% of fatal deer crashes, a stark reminder of how exposed riders are when a deer enters the roadway.
That same bulletin says deer crashes are most common at dawn and dusk, with 26% occurring between 5 a.m. and 7:59 a.m. and another 32% between 6 p.m. and 9:59 p.m. Evans’ crash came late at night, but the broader message is the same for Adams County motorists on U.S. 52 and other rural roads: deer can appear without warning, and a collision can be deadly in seconds.
The report also noted that Evans was not wearing a motorcycle helmet. Ohio law requires helmets for riders under 18 and for riders in their first year after obtaining a motorcycle license or endorsement. The helmet detail does not change the central fact of the crash, but it underscores how little protection a motorcycle offers in a deer strike.
State patrol crash data can be broken down by roadway, time, day of week, month and severity, a tool that can help show whether a corridor such as U.S. 52 has a recurring pattern of serious wrecks. For Adams County, the crash leaves another fatal mark on a road that local responders know all too well.
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