HARTFORD, Conn. -- A motorcycle became wedged between a car and the curb after the driver of the bike tried to swerve to miss a pedestrian, witnesses said.

The pedestrian was struck and killed after the rider fell off the moving motorcycle.

"I told him, 'you got a trauma case on Park Street," a witness said he told the dispatcher. "For some reason, he lost control of the bike, and he was trying to avoid the pedestrian, and that's when he hit the ground."

Other witnesses said the driver was doing a wheelie and driving erratically when he struck the man near Park and Seymour streets.

They said the driver was dragged at least a block before he came loose from the moving bike.

Naomi Rivera said she saw both men lying unconscious in the street.

By the time paramedics got them to Hartford Hospital, just a few blocks from the crash, the pedestrian had died.

Rivera said her son wants a motorcycle, but after she saw the crash she said she wouldn't let him get one.

"I'm saying anybody that's planning to buy a bike -- think about it twice. It's not worth it, not after this," Rivera said.

Police have not released the names of the victims.

The driver is in serious condition at Hartford Hospital, but he's expected to survive, officials said.

He will likely face charges, police said.