GRAHAM, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff's Department says an incident involving fishing line that injured a motorcyclist in Graham on Friday was a prank by two teenage girls who said they were trying to do a trick with a Teddy bear.
Alex Teston was on 84th Avenue East on Friday night near 224th Street East when something nearly knocked him off motorcycle.
"There was so much pressure that it jerked me back on the bike and almost made me let go of my handlebars and crash," Teston said.
Teston was confused because he didn't see anything in the road. Then, he realized his neck had a horizontal cut. He found that someone strung what appeared to be fishing line across the road.
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"There was a little bit of blood drawn but nothing ridiculous," he said.
Pierce County detectives found a fishing line tied to a utility pole on 84th Avenue. They believe the other end was tied to a tree on the opposite side of the street.
"Someone had to have put that there by choice," Teston said. "Knowing the results, it's kind of crazy to think about why someone would do that."
Teston was right. On Wednesday, a 15-year-old girl admitted to authorities that she and her friend, also 15, did it as a prank, according to the sheriff's department.
The girls said they heard about a fishing line prank from one of their parents in which people used to suspend a Teddy bear with fishing line to give the illusion that it was floating above the street.
While the girls were in the process of setting up the Teddy bear prank, the motorcyclist came by and struck their line. Scared, the girls ran away.
Neither girl was arrested, but police said they are writing up the paperwork to give to the Pierce County prosecutor, who will decide whether charges should be filed.
Experienced motorcyclists want others on bikes to be aware that this rare situation could happen to anyone. In February, a woman in Arizona was critically injured after being hit by a thin rope that was tied to a tree and a mailbox. Officials are still looking for the suspects involved in that case.
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