Minnesota News

Two injured when vehicle strikes sheriff's squad along western Minnesota interstate

Two people — including a sheriff’s deputy — were injured in a crash amid icy conditions Sunday night along Interstate 94 in western Minnesota.

It happened just before 10 p.m. in the westbound lanes near Evansville. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said one of its deputies was stopped at the scene of an earlier crash in which a vehicle slid off the road and hit cable barriers in the center median.

As the 23-year-old deputy was in his vehicle with emergency lights activated and flares on the roadway, another westbound vehicle hit the squad “at interstate speeds,” the sheriff’s office said.

Dashcam video shared by the sheriff’s office shows the squad stopped along the left side of the freeway with light snow falling, when the collision pushes the deputy’s vehicle forward and into the median cable barrier.

The deputy was wearing a seatbelt the time. The sheriff’s office said he and the other driver — an 18-year-old man from Albany, Minn. — suffered serious injuries, though the State Patrol said those injuries were not life-threatening.

The crash remains under investigation by the Patrol.

In the wake of the crash, the sheriff’s office issued a statement urging “motorists to slow down, remain vigilant and exercise caution, particularly in hazardous road conditions.”