David S. Siege was a very careful motorcyclist, said his friend and riding buddy, Paul Ferm.
That makes it hard for Ferm to come up with any sort of teachable moment from the traffic crash in which
Siege, 63, of Greenville, and formerly of Brookfield, died on Aug. 11.
“I think it goes with the territory,” said Ferm, the police chief of South Pymatuning (Pa.) Township and a Brookfield resident. “It’s a dangerous sport and you have to be an accomplished rider.”
Siege was northbound on Route 7 and had just passed Spencer Clark Road when he went off the left side of the road into a ditch and a hit a tree, Ohio Highway Patrol said. The police report said it was raining and the road was wet, and Ferm said the time of the crash, about 6:55 p.m., was about when a storm hit as Ferm was driving home from Niles.
“The skies opened up and the wind was blowing and whatnot,” Ferm said. “Apparently, he caught some
bad weather.”
Ferm said he had talked to Siege at about 5:30 p.m. and learned Siege was planning to travel from his
home in Greenville to Yankee Lake for Bike Night.
“I says, ‘I think it’s supposed to storm,’ and he said, ‘Nah, not ’til about 9 o’clock,’” Ferm said. “He was
checking the weather. I said, ‘I don’t know. It’s getting dark over here already.’”
Ferm said he believes Siege had turned around and was heading home when the weather hit.
“He was always a guy that would give you his shirt off his back,” Ferm said. “He didn’t have much, but
what he did have, he would share with people. He was a former military guy. He was in the Navy for
quite a while. He has some affinity for the military and he was always doing things to prop up the military
or law enforcement. Anytime they had a benefit anywhere, he would make sure he was able to attend it
and lend a hand. Just an all-around good person.
The photos are contributed.
