1 killed, 6 hurt in Kanabec County crash involving car, 3 motorcycles

Earlier Faribault County crash also claimed a life.

By STAFF REPORTS

August 18, 2019 at 12:25AM

One person was killed and six others were injured when a car struck three motorcycles in east-central Minnesota's Kanabec County early Saturday.

According to the State Patrol, a 2004 Toyota Camry driven by Par Klaw, 30, of St. Paul, was traveling north on Mahogany Street in Brunswick Township when it failed to yield at the intersection with Hwy. 70 at 8:27 a.m. The Camry struck two motorcycles and caused a third one to run off the road, the patrol said.

Klaw and two of his passengers, Sui Thoo Poor, 28, hometown unknown, and Matthew Thaw, 2, of St. Paul, were not hurt, the patrol said. Two other passengers, Thu Lu, 34, and Saw Si Si, 26, both of St. Paul, suffered minor injuries and were taken to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. All were wearing seat belts and alcohol use is not suspected, the patrol said.

A 42-year-old man from Java, S.D., who was on one of the motorcycles was killed, the patrol said. His name has not been released. His passenger, Charisse Mae Janke, 40, also of Java, suffered critical injuries and was taken to HCMC in Minneapolis.

Two people on the second motorcycle, Bruce Alan Johnson, 48, and Tina Marie Johnson, 46, of Braham, Minn., also suffered injuries and were taken to North Memorial.

The driver of the third motorcycle, Ryan Paul Ristow, 21, of Coon Rapids, suffered minor injuries when his cycle was run off the road, the patrol said.

None of the injured motorcyclists was wearing a helmet, the patrol said. It did not offer that information about the man who was killed.

The patrol also reported that a 39-year-old man from Wells, Minn., was killed Friday afternoon when the 2003 Ford Ranger he was a passenger in veered off Hwy. 109 in Faribault County while coming out of a curve, spun across two lanes and rolled over in a ditch.

Jason Melvin Niebuhr was a passenger in the pickup, which was being driven by a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released. The boy was taken to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester with unspecified injuries. Both were wearing seat belts and alcohol use is not suspected, the patrol said.

The crash happened at 1 p.m. near County Road 21, west of Wells in Walnut Lake Township, the patrol said.

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STAFF REPORTS