ACCIDENTS

A 44-year-old Fort Ripley woman injured after the off-road utility vehicle she was riding in was struck by a pickup was reported in serious condition Wednesday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.

Sandra Koering and Laura Schleusner, 21, Baxter, were riding the off-road utility vehicle about 9 p.m. Friday on Hay Creek Road in St. Mathias Township when they were struck by a pickup driven by Dale Enslander, 33, Brainerd.

Koering was airlifted from the crash site to North Memorial Medical Center. Schleusner was treated at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd and released.

Enslander wasn't injured but was arrested for criminal vehicular operation and later released on his own recognizance.

Passersby save woman from vehicle fire

CROSSLAKE - A 61-year-old Crosslake woman severely injured Tuesday in a single-vehicle crash on Crow Wing County Road 36 in Crosslake was pulled to safety by two passersby as her vehicle burned, the Crosslake Police Department reported.

The crash was reported about 6 p.m. Crosslake Police Officer Jay Lorch responded and spoke with a witness, Joe Hauglie, 54, Maple Grove, who told Lorch that he was driving on Bonnie Lakes Farm Road and as he approached the intersection of County Road 36 he could see smoke through the trees.

When he arrived at the intersection, Hauglie told Lorch he saw a vehicle on fire in the ditch. Hauglie found Andrea Sergott unconscious in the vehicle and removed her from it. Another passerby, Ty Ostroviak, 28, Crosslake, helped Hauglie move Sergott to a safe distance away from the fully engulfed vehicle.

Sergott temporarily regained consciousness, police said, and stated she was hypoglycemic and had passed out just prior to the accident.

She was airlifted to North Memorial and placed on oxygen for smoke inhalation. A hospital spokesman said she was in critical condition Wednesday.

Assisting at the scene were the Breezy Point Police Department, Crow Wing County Sheriff's Department, Crosslake Fire Department and North Ambulance.