Car ends up under semi

Roof removed to rescue driver

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM--Westbound traffic at U.S Highway 14 and State Highway 15 just outside of New Ulm was slowed and directed by sheriff's deputies for hours as rescue workers and accident investigators cleared the scene of an accident there late Friday night.

Passing motorists stopped to ask state troopers about the accident and looked on with interest, some shaking their heads, as they slowly drove through the intersection.

According to Sgt. Kevin Guggisberg of the Minnesota State Patrol, the accident happened as a blue Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera sedan made a left turn in front of a semi truck that was heading north on State Highway 15 and hit its right side. The Cutlass then spun and hit a 1995 Pontiac Firebird that was stopped in the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 14. The Cutlass then went under the truck and got stuck, Guggisberg said.

Darrin Wendel, 23, of Fairmont, and his wife Alisha were waiting inside the Firebird at the time the accident happened. They were heading west to South Dakota for a weekend of pheasant hunting when they saw the Cutlass hit the car. Wendel said he saw the collision right away and called 911 on a celluar phone. Wendel's car received minor damage.

"I couldn't belive it," he said. "It's not something you see every day."

The driver of the truck, Dave Powers, of St. Peter, said he was taking a load of hard-boiled eggs to Gaylord at the time the accident happened. Powers said he had no other comment on the accident. The truck he was driving, a 2001 Freightliner, sustained major damage to its right front end. The truck is owned by McFarland Truck Lines of Austin.

New Ulm firefighters wasted no time in removing passenger Stephanie Koep, of Winthrop, from the car. Captain Tom Wolf of the NUFD said a team of six firefighters removed the roof with a hydraulic rescue device. He said there was no danger of a chemical spill, or of fire, but had a hose team ready in case fire started. Wolf was unable to say how long the rescue operation took.

"When you're on the scene, you just think about doing the job. You don't keep track of time," he said.

Koep and driver Kalyee Messner, 17, also of Winthrop, were taken to New Ulm Medical Center. They were both still undergoing evaluation at this writing. No other injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, New Ulm police officers checked the scene for debris and assisted with the removal of the Cutlass. Small pieces of window glass dotted the pavement. What was the roof of the Cutlass lay on the median beside the truck. Around 8 p.m. a wrecker arrived from New Ulm and removed the car. The entire left side of the Cutlass was crumpled inwards and its left rear wheel was bent inward at a 45-degree angle.

Brown and Nicollet County deputies directed traffic around the scene with light sticks. The westbound lane, where the accident happened, was blocked off by State Patrol squad cars.

The accident scene cleared around 10 p.m. It is still under investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol.