Poor road conditions lead to accidents
Published 6:30 am Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Poor road conditions made for difficult driving over the weekend.
According to Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger, 20 accidents occurred in the city from Friday through Sunday. Most of them, 11, occurred between noon and early evening on Saturday.
Accident leads to injuries, citation
One driver was transported to the hospital after a Saturday afternoon accident on Fourth Street Northeast.
According to Krueger, police were called about 12:15 p.m. on Saturday to the 1500 block of Fourth Street Northeast. A Honda SUV was heading north on Fourth Street Northeast and was making a right turn when it hit an oncoming Chevy Silverado.
The driver of the Honda, Tilahun Gisila, 45, of rural Austin, was cited for failure to drive with due care. Gisila complained of pain to his chest and leg and was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin by Gold Cross Ambulance Service.
The driver of the Chevy was uninjured.
Three taken to hospital after I-90 accident
Three individuals were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after an accident on Saturday morning.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol accident report, a 2015 Freightliner semitrailer and a 2005 Dodge Stratus were westbound on Interstate 90 when they collided at about 11:34 a.m. near milepost 191 in Dexter Township.
The driver of the Freightliner, Abdi Jama Nuh, 31, of Fort Morgan, Colorado, was taken to Mower County Health System-Austin with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the Dodge, Daniel Ray Meyer, 56, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the Freightliner’s passenger, Abdi Hussein Farah, 30, of Aurora, Colorado, were both transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys Campus-Rochester with non-life threatening injuries.
The Mower County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
The cause of the accident was determined to be weather-related, according to the patrol report.
Alleged drunk driver arrested after hitting parked vehicle
An alleged drunk driver was taken to the Mower County Jail after hitting a parked vehicle early Sunday morning.
According to Krueger, police responded to a call at 1:36 a.m. on Sunday about an accident near the 800 block of Fourth Avenue and the 1400 block of Eighth Street Northeast. A 2007 Honda Civic turned too quickly onto Eighth Street Northeast when slippery road conditions caused it to hit a legally-parked 2009 GMC Sierra.
Police noticed the Honda’s driver, Saw Kwar, 43, of Austin smelled of alcohol and a preliminary breath test showed he was over the legal limit, according to Krueger.
Kwar was arrested and taken to the Mower County Jail, where he again tested over the legal limit, according to Krueger. He was cited for fourth-degree DWI charge.