Sheriff: Motorcyclist Critically Injured After Fleeing Deputy, Crashing In Waite Park
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says a 31-year-old St. Joseph man is in critical condition after he fled from a deputy on a motorcycle and later crashed.
According to the sheriff's office, the incident began Monday at 9:19 p.m. when a deputy saw a motorcyclist make an unsafe lane change, cutting in front of another vehicle, near the 1400 block of Division St./County Road 75 in Waite Park.
The deputy activated his lights and the motorcyclist pulled into a nearby parking lot, but then fled out of the lot at a high rate of speed and began traveling the wrong way on County Road 75. The deputy did not pursue the motorcycle and lost sight of it as it went over a viaduct near 6th Avenue and Division Street, the sheriff's office said.
The motorcyclist crashed a short time later near 58 Division Street West in Waite Park. Authorities say it appears the driver attempted to cross the median to get into the eastbound lane when the crash occurred. The motorcyclist then struck a street sign.
The driver of the motorcycle, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to St. Cloud Hospital in critical condition.
Alcohol may have been a factor, the sheriff's office said.
The crash remains under investigation.
