Three dead, one jailed after crash Friday near Kandiyohi, Minn.
KANDIYOHI - Three people are dead after a head-on crash Friday night on U.S. Highway 12 west of Kandiyohi, and one man is in jail pending possible charges of criminal vehicular homicide and open bottle.
Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol says on his official Twitter account that two adult females and one juvenile female were killed in the two-vehicle crash shortly after 9 p.m. Friday.
The Minnesota State Patrol report says five people were involved in the crash that forced one of the vehicles into the ditch where it burned. Only the jailed driver has been named, and the State Patrol report says alcohol was detected.
The Minnesota State Patrol says Paul A. Wickenhauser, 21, of Norwood, was the driver of a 2004 Chevy Silverado pickup that was traveling westbound on Highway 12. The pickup crashed head-on with a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country van traveling east. The crash, east of the intersection with Kandiyohi County Road 127, caused the van to enter the north ditch of the highway and then burn.
Wickenhauser was treated and released from Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar. He is being held in the Kandiyohi County Jail, according to the online custody list. Pending charges include criminal vehicular homicide or operation and open bottle.
The State Patrol report does not indicate if the four people yet to be named were all in the van. More information is expected to be released at noon today.
