BEATRICE – A vehicle carrying two occupants from Lincoln, Nebraska struck a bicyclist in northeast Kansas Sunday, causing serious injuries to the bike rider.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says 54-year-old Eugene Thomas Rice of Manhattan was taken to Ascension Via Christi Hospital for treatment of suspected serious injuries.  

The accident happened just before 1 p.m. at the Junction of Kansas Highway 113 and Top of the World Drive about two miles north of Manhattan.

Patrol officials say a 2025 Chevrolet Trax driven by 19-year-old Willliam Bartunek of Lincoln was southbound on K-113 when it drifted to the right onto the shoulder and struck the bicyclist who was also traveling south. The cyclist, authorities say, was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.

Bartunek and a 19-year-old male passenger, also from Lincoln…were not injured.