PIERCE COUNTY Accident Reports

Officers came upon a one-vehicle rollover at 6:38 p.m. Feb. 10 on County Road O about half-mile south of 640th Avenue in the town of Trimbelle. A 2004 Jeep Liberty, driven by Ashley Mary Craver, 35, River Falls, was heading north on County Road O around a left-hand curve and up a slight grade. Craver failed to maintain control and left the road, entered the east ditch and overturned. The vehicle came to rest against a tree line on its driver’s side. While looking for a stuck vehicle in the area, officers discovered the crash just after it happened. Police helped Craver and a 10-year-old passenger from the vehicle. Both denied EMS but had suspected minor injuries. The vehicle was towed due to disabling damage and Craver was cited for operating without a valid license.

Deputies responded to a one-vehicle crash at 3:28 a.m. Feb. 11 (they were notified at 2:37 a.m.) that had occurred at midnight on Highway 35 just east of 468th Avenue in the town of Oak Grove. A 2002 Toyota Camry, operated by Jack Donald Klinder, 18, Pemberton, Minn., was traveling north on Highway 35 when it started to lose control. The vehicle struck a guardrail rear-end first, then spun around, with the front-end then hitting the guardrail. Klinder left the scene and drove the vehicle home. When police responded to the scene, they saw the damaged guardrail and tracks leading to it. The vehicle had functional damage. Klinder and a passenger, Rachel Hannah Nohava, 20, Winona, Minn., wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Klinder was cited for failure of operator to notify police of accident.

Police were called to a one-vehicle crash at 10:03 a.m. Feb. 11 on Highway 10 just west of 730th Street in the town of Trimbelle. A 2016 Ford F150, driven by Michele Rose Haselman, 61, Ellsworth, was traveling wet on Highway 10 just leaving the Ellsworth village limits. Haselman went around a curve and down the West Hill, lost control on the slippery road, crossed over the eastbound lane and struck a guardrail head-on. The vehicle pushed in the guardrail and came to rest on top of a large culvert under the guardrail, facing south. The vehicle was towed due to disabling damage. Haselman wore a seat belt and reported no injuries.

Deputies were called to a one-vehicle crash at 11 a.m. Feb. 11 on Highway 35 just east of 570th Street in the town of Isabelle. A 2012 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by Jack Morris Voelker, 17, Ellsworth, was heading north on Highway 35 on a snow-covered road. Voelker lost control, crossed the center line and entered the opposite ditch, where he struck multiple boulders, causing damage to the vehicle’s undercarriage and front end. The vehicle was towed due to disabling damage. Voelker and passenger Bailey Daniel Poellinger, 20, Beldenville, wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Officers responded to a vehicle vs. tree crash at 11:29 a.m. Feb. 11 on 497th Avenue just east of 1208th Street in the town of Oak Grove. A 2019 Chevrolet Traverse, driven by Eske I. Bennetsen, 69, Prescott, was heading west on 497th Avenue down a hill and around a curve. The vehicle slid across the roadway coming out of the curve, descended a steep embankment and hit a tree head-on. The vehicle spun around and came to rest facing up the embankment in a northwesterly direction. Bennetsen wore a seat belt and reported no injuries. The vehicle had to be towed due to disabling damage.

Police were called to a one-vehicle crash at 3:24 p.m. Feb. 11 on County Road D just south of 290th Avenue in the town of Hartland. A 1996 Jeep Cherokee, driven by Alexander Kyle Frie, 22, Fountain City, was traveling south on County Road D when the driver lost control on the icy, snowy road. The vehicle entered the right ditch and overturned onto the driver’s side. Frie and passenger Clara Agnes Novak, 21, Coon Rapids, Minn., wore seat belts and reported no injuries. The vehicle had to be towed due to disabling damage.

Deputies responded at 6:12 p.m. Feb. 11 to a one-vehicle rollover on Highway 63 just south of County Road Y in the town of Martell. A 2004 Toyota Tundra, driven by Keegan James Tanaka Merth, 17, Beldenville, was heading south on Highway 63. When he finished negotiating a curve he started to speed up and the vehicle lost control on the slushy/icy road. It slid sideways, entered the ditch and rolled onto its side. Merth wore a seat belt and reported no injuries. The Toyota had to be towed due to disabling damage.

Officers responded to a one-vehicle crash at 12:02 a.m. Feb. 12 on County Road BB just north of 750th Avenue in the town of Gilman. A 2008 Saturn Vue, driven by Michael John Freund, 70, Ellsworth, was traveling north on County Road BB. Freund said he saw something in the traffic lane, braked hard and swerved to avoid striking the object. The vehicle began to skid, crossed the southbound lane and entered the ditch on the west side, where it overturned. Freund wore a seat belt and reported no injuries; the vehicle had to be towed due to disabling damage.

Police were notified of a one-vehicle rollover crash at 2:50 a.m. Feb. 12 that had occurred at 1:11 a.m. on County Road E just north of Highway 35 in the town of Oak Grove. A 2006 Toyota Camry, driven by Maxwell Roger Erickson, 23, River Falls, was merging northbound onto County Road E when it began to skid, crossed the center line and entered the south ditch. The vehicle rolled prior to coming to a stop. The Camry had to be towed due to disabling damage. Erickson wore a seat belt and reported no injuries.

Deputies responded to a one-vehicle crash at 4:51 p.m. Feb. 12 on County Road FF one-quarter mile west of 1090th Street in the town of Clifton. A 2009 Dodge Caliber, driven by Taylor Lynn Hinke, 21, Chippewa Falls, was traveling east on County Road FF. When Hinke was entered a left-hand curve, due to the ice and snow on the road, she began to skid and entered the other traffic lane. She overcorrected, which caused the vehicle to slide across both traffic lanes and enter the south ditch. Hinke hit the hard-packed snow in the ditch, which caused the vehicle to overturn. The vehicle was towed due to disabling damage. Hinke wore a seat belt and reported no injuries.

Police responded to a one-vehicle crash at 12:16 a.m. Feb. 13 on Highway 29 about one mile east of 1250th Street in the town of Oak Grove. A 2010 Chevrolet CBT, driven by Fletcher Joel Thomas Wheadon, 16, River Falls, was heading west, lost control, entered the ditch and rolled while going through a fence. The vehicle was towed due to disabling damage. An ambulance transported Wheadon, who was not wearing a seat belt, to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with suspected serious injuries. A passenger, David Charles Earl Wheadon, 16, River Falls, wore a seat blet and was transported by ambulance to Regions Hospital with suspected minor injuries. Fletcher Wheadon was cited for failure to keep vehicle under control and vehicle operator fail/wear seat belt.