CLEAR LAKE — A Mason City motorcyclist was injured Thursday night after striking a deer on a rural road near Clear Lake and being thrown from his motorcycle.
The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office responded at approximately 9:41 p.m. on Thursday, August 6, 2026, to the area of 300th Street just east of Grouse Avenue for a single-vehicle motorcycle crash.
Authorities said Deryck Leitner Jr., 28, of Mason City, was riding eastbound on Grouse Avenue when his motorcycle struck a deer.
Leitner was thrown from the motorcycle, while the bike continued into the north ditch.
He suffered minor injuries and declined medical treatment, according to the sheriff’s office.
Motorcycle-versus-deer crashes are nothing new in Cerro Gordo County. NIT previously reported that another Mason City motorcyclist was ejected from his bike after striking a deer in April 2024.
NIT also reported a motorcycle-versus-deer collision on Grouse Avenue south of Clear Lake that sent a Swaledale man to the hospital in 2016.
The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office investigated Thursday night’s crash.