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Tim Nelson
St. Paul, Minn.

Wrong-way driver triggers I-494 crash, injuries near airport

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Updated 1:50 pm.

Three women were injured in a crash on Interstate 494 in Bloomington Tuesday morning when a driver headed the wrong way down the freeway, just south of Terminal 2 at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.

The Minnesota State Patrol said 76-year-old Arvilla Beckman of St. Paul turned her minivan onto the freeway near 34th Avenue and headed east in the westbound lanes of I-494 just before 10:30 a.m.

Another woman from St. Paul, Nicole Gardner, swerved her sedan to avoid the wrong way driver and hit a median.

The minivan then hit a compact SUV head-on, causing that vehicle to roll over several times, coming to rest in the traffic lanes on I-494.

All three women, including 34-year-old Rebecca Leagjeld, of Burnsville, were hurt in the crash.

The State Patrol said all three apparently suffered non-life threatening injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.

The crash caused a major backup on I-494, coming from the Pilot Knob Road interchange in Eagan.

Airport police and the State Patrol are investigating. The patrol said alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the crash.