Man receives multiple injuries in accident

Published 12:00 am Monday, August 5, 2002

Sheldon Lukes, 66 of rural Austin, suffered multiple injuries in a one-vehicle accident Saturday morning.

According to an Austin Police Department report, Lukes was alone in his pickup truck, when the vehicle left the roadway along 31st Street NW and the Mandolin Apartment complex.

When Austin Police Department officers arrived, they discovered Lukes lying on the floor of his pickup truck.

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An eyewitness to the mishap told investigators the pickup truck flipped over before landing on its wheels near a curve at the apartment complex.

A Gold Cross Ambulance Service crew rushed Lukes to Austin Medical Center and later Saturday he was transferred by air ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester.

Also investigating the 11:49 a.m. Saturday mishap were officers of the Mower County Sheriff's Department and Minnesota State Patrol.

Escape attempt fails

A driver tried to swim across the Cedar River in order to elude a pursuing Austin police officer.

The driver gave up his swim to freedom and returned to shore and was arrested.

According to an Austin Police Department report, an officer on routine patrol early Saturday observed a white Honda Civic being driven erratically in northeast Austin and gave pursuit.

The vehicle sped off and ignored the officer's lights and sirens until it struck a curb and spun out of control in the 400 block of 13th Avenue NE.

According to the Austin Police Department report, the driver exited the car and ran away between houses in the neighborhood until coming to the Cedar River. He jumped into the waters and attempted to swim across the river until giving up and returning to shore where the police officer handcuffed him and took him into custody for jailing.

Robert Ellis Walker, 19 of 606 40th St. NW, was charged with felony fleeing a police officer's vehicle, driving after revocation, driving over the centerline, obstructing legal process, no proof of insurance, reckless driving and being a minor while drinking and driving.

He was also ordered held on a Blue Earth County warrant.

Children placed in foster care

A private citizen informed the Austin Police Department of a possible child neglect case.

Officers were dispatched to a residence in the 600 block of Sixth Avenue SE Friday to investigate the complaint.

According to the police report, the father of the children is away to a treatment center and the mother is seldom home.

Police found two minor children home alone in a residence that was described as smelling of urine with dog feces strewn about and a minimal amount of food.

The children were turned over to the Mower County Department of Human Services for placement in a temporary foster home, pending further investigation.

Bicyclist injured

Austin Police Department officers investigated a car – bicycle accident Friday night.

According to the report, a 15-year-old male juvenile was injured when his bicycle collided with a motor vehicle along First Avenue SW, near the Sixth Street intersection.

The bicyclist was apparently following a white van that failed to stop at the intersection.

Matthew Dobbs, 19, of Austin told officers he did not see the bicyclist when the van's driver ignored the stop sign and proceeded across the intersection narrowly missing striking another vehicle ahead of Dobbs' car.

The mishap occurred 9:23 p.m. Friday and the bicyclist was not seriously injured.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com