WILLMAR — Three rollover crashes, one involving a garbage truck, were reported Saturday morning in west central Minnesota.
Icy road conditions were considered a factor in the crashes. Law enforcement agencies around the state dealt with hundreds of crashes Saturday.
Shortly after 6 a.m., a Ford F-150 pickup driven by Braden Chan, 21, of Renville, was traveling east on Renville County Road 4 when the vehicle slid off the road.
The rollover was about eight miles southwest of Hector. Chan was transported to RC Hospital in Olivia for evaluation of non-life-threatening injuries. The Renville County Sheriff’s Office responded, and the Hector Fire Department and Olivia Ambulance assisted.
About three hours later, a West Central Sanitation garbage truck rolled on slippery roads.
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According to a news release from the Renville County Sheriff’s Office, the 2019 Peterbilt garbage truck was traveling north on Renville County Road 20 when the vehicle began to slide. It slid off the roadway and rolled about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
The crash occurred about one-quarter mile north of U.S. Highway 212 about five miles east of Buffalo Lake.
Driver Brent Johnson, 38, of Redwood Falls, and passenger Gregory Benson, 49, of Willmar, were uninjured in the crash.
The Sheriff’s Office said road conditions were a significant factor in the crash.
Shortly before noon, a vehicle driven by a Willmar man rolled over on U.S. Highway 71 in Stearns County.
A Dodge Avenger driven by Robert Russell Love, 51, was traveling south on Highway 71 in Crow River Township when it lost control and rolled into the left ditch, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report.
Love and a passenger, Margarita Gonzalez Villagomez, 51, of Osakis, were transported to Sauk Centre Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both had been wearing their seat belts.
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, Elrosa Fire Department, Brooten Ambulance and Sauk Centre Ambulance assisted the State Patrol.
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The Minnesota State Patrol tweeted figures for Saturday crashes statewide that totaled 357 from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., 34 of those with injuries and two fatals in St. Cloud and Lino Lakes.
Also during that period, the State Patrol responded to 149 vehicles that had spun out or gone off the road and 13 jackknifed semis.
The numbers diminished somewhat for the period from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when the Patrol responded to 113 crashes, 9 with injuries, and 121 vehicles spun out or off the road.
