Paul Teutal, Sr., Killed in Motorcycle Accident-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Orange County Choppers founder and reality start Paul Teutal, Sr., has been killed or seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.
The Truth:
Paul Teutal, Sr., hasn’t been killed in a motorcycle accident.
And Paul Teutal, Sr., death hoaxes aren’t anything new, either. False reports that the Orange County Choppers founder and “American Choppers” reality TV star has died seem to pop up every few years.
The latest one held that Paul Teutal, Sr., was killed in a motorcycle accident in Louisiana on April 18, 2016. Teutal supposedly lost control of his bike and was hit by an SUV when its driver went through a red light.
In reality, Paul Teutal’s name was inserted into this New Orleans Times-Picayune article about a five-vehicle crash that left one motorcyclist dead and another critically injured in Gretna, Louisiana.
So, the crash actually happened as described, but Teutal wasn’t a part of it. Orange County Choppers quickly released a statement denying its founder’s death on Facebook:
Paul Teutal has also been active on social media in the days following his death hoax, which further puts the rumor to rest.
After all, this isn’t anything new for Paul Teutal, Sr., or Orange County Choppers. The reality TV star has been at the center of a surprising number of death hoaxes over the years.
Similar death hoaxes surfaced in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2014.