Police have determined that Brent Hinds, co-founder of the heavy metal band Mastodon, was at fault in the motorcycle crash that resulted in his death last month.
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On the night of Aug. 20, Hinds’ Harley-Davidson collided with a BMW SUV at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Boulevard, according to Atlanta police. Hinds, 51, was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Atlanta News First reported that police stated in their preliminary report that the SUV driver failed to yield while turning left at the intersection. She then collided with Hinds, who was traveling on Boulevard, authorities said then.
However, a new crash report obtained by Atlanta News First states that investigators found Hinds was at fault for the accident due to speeding.
Atlanta police reported that Hinds was driving between 63 and 68 mph, nearly double the speed limit at the crash site. Investigators used video of the intersection, which “clearly depicts” the accident, to calculate Hinds’ speed.
Meanwhile, two witnesses told police that Hinds was “driving fast.”
“Hinds was at fault for the crash,” police concluded, per Atlanta News First.
That said, the outlet points out that the reports have muddled accounts of the incident.
The report showed conflicting statements from the SUV driver and a witness, creating doubt about whether the driver had a green light when turning left from Memorial to Boulevard.
The driver was “positive” that the light was green, police wrote. But a witness told police the light was red “when he looked to the light when everything happened.”
The report also states that when police arrived, Hinds was “breathing and moving,” with “visible injuries” to his head, arms, and torso. The SUV driver sustained injuries to her arms and head and was transported to Grady.
Brent Hinds Co-Founded Mastadon in the Early 2000s
Brent Hinds moved to Atlanta in the mid-1990s, where he joined Troy Sanders’ band, Four Hour Fogger. After the band’s dissolution, Hinds and Sanders, along with Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, formed Mastodon in the early 2000s.
Their 2002 debut, Remission, combined hardcore with metal. But it was 2004’s Leviathan, inspired by Moby Dick, that put them on the metal map. Blood Mountain (2007) earned a Grammy nod. Later albums like Crack the Skye (2009) and The Hunter (2011) showed their progressive style. The Hunter was dedicated to Hinds’ late brother.
Hinds’ final studio albums with the band were Once More ’Round the Sun (2014), Emperor of Sand (2017), and the double-album Hushed and Grim (2021).
Hinds left the band earlier this year.