Woman injured when box truck rear-ends pickup truck on Highway 34 at Highland Drive

IMG_9020 (2).JPG — A paramedic secured a woman on a stretcher before she was transported to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 34 and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes on July 1, 2022.

By Michael Achterling

July 01, 2022 at 4:58 PM

DETROIT LAKES — A woman was injured in a two-vehicle crash at the Highland Drive and Highway 34 intersection in Detroit Lakes on Friday, July 1.

At 3:19 p.m., Becker County emergency dispatchers received a report of a crash involving a "vehicle and a semi," with a driver who was trapped and suffered unknown injuries. Within minutes of the crash, Detroit Lakes police officers, Becker County deputies, Detroit Lakes firefighters, Minnesota state troopers and EMS personnel were successful in freeing a woman from her red Dodge Ram pickup and loaded her into a nearby ambulance, where she was transported to a hospital with unknown injuries.

IMG_9005 (2).JPG — First responders attempt to free a woman who was involved in a crash near the intersection of Highway 34 and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes on July 1, 2022.

IMG_9054 (2).JPG — A Detroit Lakes police officer photographs the rear of a Dodge Ram pickup truck after it was involved in a crash near the intersection of Highway 34 and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes on July 1, 2022.

"(The truck) had come up behind her, swerved, and then hit the back end of her truck and smashed it up ... and then her car went forward," said Payton Suedel, an eyewitness to the crash and part of the group who called 911. "It's just horrible."

Suedel and the two other witnesses said they were approaching the Highland Drive intersection while traveling eastbound on Highway 34, and saw the rear-end crash occur as the woman appeared to be waiting for traffic to clear before turning south onto Highland Drive from Highway 34.

The crash's impact forced the bed of the Dodge Ram to compact during the collision. The name of the injured woman and extent of her injuries have not yet been released.

A Minnesota state trooper appeared to be interviewing the truck driver at the scene of the crash.

IMG_9036 (2).JPG — A member of the Minnesota State Patrol talks to the driver of a truck who was involved in a rear-end collision with a Dodge Ram pickup near the intersection of Highway 34 and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes on July 1, 2022.

IMG_9042 (2).JPG — East and westbound traffic backs up following a crash between a pickup and a large box truck near the intersection of Highway 34 and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes on July 1, 2022.

By Michael Achterling

Lead Multimedia Reporter for the Detroit Lakes Tribune and the Perham Focus.