UA student dies after scooter crash

FAYETTEVILLE — A 20-year-old student died Tuesday after a late-night scooter accident last week on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus, police said.

Cole Pangburn died after sustaining head injuries in a one-vehicle crash just a few minutes after midnight early Friday morning, said Capt. Gary Crain, a university police spokesman. He said it was the first fatality to result from a scooter accident on campus.

Pangburn was not wearing a helmet, Crain said. By state law, anyone under 21 must wear a helmet when riding a scooter or motorcycle.

Crain said a patrol officer traveling the opposite direction as Pangburn saw his scooter "wobble" before the accident.

"We don't really have any contributing factor other than the motor scooter going down," Crain said.

Pangburn was a 2014 graduate of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, the school's president, Matt Walsh, said.

Pangburn was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity at the university, according to numerous posts to social media mourning his death. He was a sophomore studying business management, said Steve Voorhies, a university spokesman.

Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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