A U.S. Army Alaska soldier died Monday evening after crashing his motorcycle in a tunnel on the Portage Glacier Highway near the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, according to the Army and Alaska State Troopers.
Spec. Frederick Jenkins III, from Columbus, Georgia joined the Army in January 2012 and reported to Alaska that October, according to a statement Wednesday from U.S. Army Alaska.
Alaska State Troopers say Jenkins, 24, was driving a Kawasaki Ninja at around Mile 5 of the Portage Glacier Highway when he attempted to negotiate a left-hand curve inside a short tunnel. The motorcycle went off the right side of the roadway and hit the tunnel wall, troopers said.
Troopers got a report of the crash around 5 p.m. LifeMed Alaska took Jenkins by helicopter to an Anchorage hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:23 p.m., troopers said.
The Army said Jenkins was assigned to the 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
Jenkins' death followed two fatal motorcycle crashes in Southcentral Alaska on Friday. That evening, motorcyclist Michael J. Kemper, 58, died in a crash on the Seward Highway after he was pursued and later hit by a trooper's patrol car, troopers reported. Early Friday, Carlos Chavesta, 29, died in Midtown Anchorage after his motorcycle hit a car and then another motorcyclist ran him over, police have said.