GRANITE FALLS - He’s taken lots of good-natured ribbing about being the first to attempt the proposed whitewater park in Granite Falls, but don’t buy any of it.
DuWayne Koenen watched his 2013 model Ford F-150 pickup truck take a plunge into the Minnesota River in downtown Granite Falls all on its own on Tuesday evening.
Lavonne Koenen, of Granite Falls, said her husband had put the truck in “park” and left it idling as he delivered a Lion’s Club calendar to a friend at her home near the river. As he entered the house, she spotted the unoccupied pickup truck moving by her window. Koenen dashed outside but was unable to reach the truck in time to stop it.
The truck move up a small incline before it continued down the river bank to the river, bouncing over large riprap rocks to take the plunge. It narrowly missed a garage and the side of the Riverview Apartment building to reach the river. The truck is believed to be a total loss, as was the stack of calendars Koenen was yet to deliver.
Volunteers with the Granite Falls Fire Department and Rescue Squad assisted Meyer’s Towing of Granite Falls in retrieving the truck.
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