2 Southern Minnesota Crashes Leave 3 Dead

May 16

Two deadly crashes just hours apart in southeastern Minnesota on Friday claimed the lives of three people.

Two other people were hospitalized, including one reported with life-threatening injuries.

The first collision was reported at 1:42 p.m. on Highway 246 at 170th Street East in Rice County’s Wheeling Township. According to the State Patrol, 67-year-old Craig Eugene Johnson, of Nerstrand, was driving a 2014 Ford Escape eastbound when he collided head-on with a westbound 2016 GMC Yukon.

Johnson was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene. The Yukon’s driver, a 44-year-old woman from Kenyon, was also unbelted but suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.

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Just under two hours later, a second fatal crash occurred on eastbound Interstate 90 near milepost 244 in Winona County’s Fremont Township. A 2023 Toyota Rav4 traveling eastbound collided with a westbound 2022 Buick Enclave.

The crash killed both drivers—70-year-old Warren Russell Hacker, of Appleton, Wisc., and 83-year-old Hadley Edwin Thompson, of Pine Island. Hacker’s wife, 71-year-old Patricia Rose Hacker, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester with life-threatening injuries.

Road conditions were reported as wet at the Rice County crash and dry in Winona County. Alcohol was not suspected in either collision.

The Minnesota State Patrol is continuing to investigate both of the fatal crashes.

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