State police say a Waterbury man apparently lost control of his motorcycle,  and slid under the wire guardrail on the exit ramp from Interstate 691 eastbound to Interstate 91 northbound about 11 p.m. Thursday.

Because the guard rail was not damaged,  and because there were no calls to 9-1-1,  police didn’t even know there had been an accident ,    and 28-year-old Carlton Crooks,  who suffered serious damage to his legs,  was trapped and unseen for nine hours.

Friday morning a passenger in a box truck thought he spotted something and went back to check.  He found Crooks and called police,  who had to cut away b ushes and trees to get him out.  Crooks  was taken by ambulance to the Connecticut Police Academy,  then by LifeStar helicopter to Hartford Hospital.