One person injured, several cars damaged

Icy roads blamed

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM--The first snow of the year always brings a handful of traffic accidents, say some law enforcement officers, and the snow that fell Thursday and Friday proved no exception in and around New Ulm.

The white flakes began falling around 5 p.m. Thursday night. Accident reports started coming in shortly thereafter.

Damage to property was moderate in most of the accidents and no injuries were reported in all except one.

A 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee slid sideways down the hill, entered a ditch, hit a tree and caught fire at 210th Avenue and the KC Road at 2:30 p.m. Friday. A report from the Brown County Sheriff's Department said road conditions were icy at the time of the crash. The Jeep was totally destroyed by the fire.

One of its passengers, Anthony Mielke, 16, of New Ulm, was later taken to New Ulm Medical Center by private vehicle, where he was treated and later flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. He was reported in stable condition Friday night.

New Ulm police were also called about an accident at Center and Monument streets at 5:07 p.m. Thursday. An NUPD report said icy roads caused a 1990 Honda Civic to loose control after it was rear-ended by a 1993 Mercury Tracer. The Civic then jumped the curb and struck a retaining wall, the report said. Both cars were left with moderate damage.

Icy conditions were also blamed for another accident at Center and Monument reported at the same time.

A 1997 Mazda 626 was parked and was sideswiped by a 1996 Ford Contour that slid as its driver applied the brakes. The Mazda had moderate damage and the Tracer had light damage, the report said.

New Ulm police got yet another call when a 1994 Oldsmobie Cutlass slipped, spun around backwards and hit a fire hydrant at 18th South Street and Broadway at 8:36 p.m. Thursday. The Oldsmobile was left with moderate damage while the hydrant was not damaged.

Slippery conditions also caused a 1994 Chevrolet S-10 pickup to slide into the back of a 1990 Dodge van parked near Sunset and Hazelwood streets at 7:07 p.m. Thursday. Both vehicles had moderate damage, police said.

Lt. Mike Hentges of the State Patrol in Marshall said the weather didn't cause any major problems on the highways in his district.

"I don't know why but we got by lucky," Hentges said. "Any time you get something like an ice storm or snow, it causes a large number of crashes. The light dusting we had Thursday didn't cause anything extra."

Officer John Scheuller of the Sleepy Eye Police Department said slippery roads caused about four accidents there Thursday night, but Friday was relatively accident-free. He said the accidents happened mostlybetween 5 and 6:30 p.m. and did not result in any serious damage to property.