BENTON HARBOR -- The Berrien County prosecutor has cleared police of any wrongdoing in the death of a motorcyclist whose fatal crash during a high-speed police chase led to two nights of rioting.

In his report released Tuesday, Prosecutor James Cherry also concluded that the nighttime pursuit was not motivated by race because it "would have been impossible" for pursuing officers to determine that the motorcyclist, Terrance Devon Shurn, was black.

Shurn and a second motorcyclist chased by police were wearing full-face helmets, coats and gloves, and the chase took place around 2 a.m. on June 16, Cherry said in a news release. The second motorcyclist got away and has not come forward.

Cherry also discounted rumors that officers forced Shurn to crash by running him off the road.

The seven-minute chase started on U.S. 31 and continued on M-139, where the motorcyclists sometimes drove faster than 120 mph before heading in different directions. Police continued chasing Shurn, 27, of Benton Harbor.

The chase was initiated by a Berrien County sheriff's deputy and later taken up by two Benton Township police officers.

After running several stop signs and flashing red lights, Shurn failed to negotiate a turn and crashed into a vacant building at Pavone and Empire streets in a Benton Harbor residential neighborhood at an estimated speed of 67 mph, the report said. The speed limit in the area is 25 mph.

The Benton Township officer pursuing Shurn was lagging several blocks behind when the crash occurred, Cherry said, but a second Benton Township officer who was stopped along Pavone saw the accident in his rear-view mirror.

The report acknowledges rumors that Shurn was "bumped" by a police vehicle, causing the crash. But two non-police witnesses to the crash did not see any physical contact between the motorcycle and the police vehicle on Pavone, nor was there physical evidence of contact on any of the vehicles involved, said the report. The witnesses confirmed the police car was stopped away from the intersection when Shurn crashed.

"Another non-police witness claimed to have seen such contact (between the motorcycle and police are) near the foot by Lake and Pavone," said the report, but the witness later admitted "he had not actually seen the bumping" but heard it.

"An examination of the cycle and car driven by (Officer Lesley) Koza shows no evidence of pre-crash contact," the report said. "Even if, for the sake of argument, one assumes the contact was made ... it couldn't have caused the crash at Pavone and Empire, a distance of some 3,500 feet south of where the contact was reported."

Shurn was pronounced dead at the scene. He suffered numerous fractures and a head injury, but the immediate cause of death was determined to be internal bleeding resulting from a torn aorta, Cherry said.

He said an ambulance was on the scene within four minutes of the crash but "no amount or manner of emergency medical care could have averted Shurn's death."

"The cause of his death, the most immediate and direct cause of his injuries, was the recklessness of his own flight from police and his failure to stop as directed," Cherry said.

The report said Shurn had a blood-alcohol level of zero percent. Toxicology test results were not yet available but Cherry said 2 grams of marijuana were found on Shurn's body after the accident.

Shurn was operating the motorcycle in violation of a restricted license and the bike had an improper registration plate, the prosecutor said.