At Least Nine People Dead in Motor Vehicle Crashes Since Friday Night
Multiple crashes on Minnesota roads since Friday night have left at least nine dead, others seriously injured.
On Friday night, a 64-year-old man from Hopkins was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Wright County, near Highway 55 and Donnelly Drive NW. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Jeffery S. Christiansen was traveling eastbound on Highway 55 when he struck a semi that was blocking both lanes of traffic while backing into a driveway.
On Saturday morning, a crash in Becker County on County Road 143, west of Bruce Boulevard, left one dead. Crews were called shortly after 7:30 AM, where they found a car rolled and the driver unresponsive. The driver was pronounced deceased at the scene.
On Saturday afternoon, just before 1:30, crews were called to the intersection of Viking Boulevard Northwest and Iguana Street Northwest in the city of Nowthen in Anoka County. There, crews found that a motorcycle traveling westbound on Viking Blvd. NW had struck the passenger side of a pickup truck turning onto Iguana St. NW from eastbound Viking Blvd. NW. Lifesaving measures were attempted on the motorcyclist but were unsuccessful. The motorcyclist was identified as Veaceslav Iurie Liubimov, age 19, from the city of Ramsey. The driver and passenger of the pickup truck were uninjured.
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Sunday morning, a crash in Maple Grove left one woman dead, and another woman was taken into custody. The three-vehicle crash occurred around 4:30 AM on the 15500 block of County Road 81. No further information has been released.
Monday afternoon, just before 1:30 PM, Saint Louis County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a dump truck rollover on Spirit Lake Road near Virta Road West in Clinton Township. The dump truck was traveling northbound when it veered off the road and rolled over. The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle was 38-year-old Randy Gary Gustafson, from Grand Rapids. Gustafson was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Another man was killed in Chisago County on Monday afternoon. The crash happened around 1:40 PM on Keystone Avenue near 400th Street in Sunrise Township. There, a vehicle struck the rear of a dump truck waiting to turn into a driveway. The vehicle driver was flown to Hennepin Healthcare by a LifeLink III helicopter but was pronounced deceased shortly after arriving at the hospital. The driver of the dump truck was uninjured.
Monday night, State Troopers responded to a fatal crash in Wright County on Interstate 94, east of County Road 8. There, a Peterbilt truck hauling a pickup truck on a trailer had left the roadway and rolled. The lone occupant was identified as Ronald William Biggerstaff, age 53, from Antigo, Wisconsin. Biggerstaff was pronounced deceased on the scene.
Tuesday morning, a pickup truck driver died after colliding head-on with a semi. The crash happened around 5:00 AM in Oak Grove at Viking Boulevard and Cedar Drive Northwest. Investigators there say the pickup crossed the center line and struck the semi head-on.
Another crash on Tuesday morning caused the death of a 68-year-old man from Shoreview. Crews were called to the intersection of Highway 95 and Pleasant Valley Road in Chisago County. There they found a 2013 Ford Taurus drifted across the center line and hit a Freightliner semi head-on. The driver of the Ford Taurus was pronounced deceased. The driver of the semi was uninjured.
On August 30th, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety announced that Minnesota had reached 300 traffic fatalities since the beginning of the year. This was the fastest Minnesota has reached 300 deaths since 2007. At the time, Mike Hanson, the director of the Office of Traffic Safety, said, “While one fatality on Minnesota roads is one too many, Minnesotans have been making progress over the years in changing their driving behaviors for the better. But recently, motorists are falling into bad habits, ignoring the law, and it’s costing us lives. This many preventable deaths on Minnesota roads before Labor Day is completely unacceptable. It’s not a homework assignment, you don’t get a do-over. We all need to drive smart to keep our family, friends and neighbors alive.”
