Motorcyclist led Polk Co deputies in a pursuit

Polk County Today is reporting that a New Mexico man, his female companion, and a police officer are all hospitalized after Polk County deputies were involved in a motorcycle pursuit that ended with the suspect crashing into a police roadblock. According to the report, it started shortly before 11:00 Saturday night on Highway 190 just west of Livingston when a deputy tried to stop the motorcyclist for a traffic violation. However, the report said the man, 25-year-old Austin Kirby, fled on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, reaching speeds up to 120 miles-per-hour. The chase went to Onalaska where police officers there set up a roadblock on the Kickapoo Creek Bridge. The report said that Kirby tried unsuccessfully to squeeze between a police car and the concrete bridge railing, which resulted in both he and his female passenger being thrown off the motorcycle and into the creek below. The unidentified female passenger was flown by medical helicopter to a Conroe hospital, while Kirby and the police officer were taken by ambulance to Livingston Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The report did not say exactly how the officer was injured.