2 killed in Friday night crashes in west metro

Investigations continued Saturday into two Friday night crashes in the west metro that killed two people and closed busy roadways for several hours.

Michael F. Barlow, 68, of Excelsior, was fatally injured just before 11 p.m. when the westbound car he was driving was struck by another vehicle headed east in the westbound lane of Hwy. 7 near Vine Hill Road, Minnetonka police said. He was taken to HCMC in Minneapolis, where he died. The wrong-way driver suffered minor injuries.

A third vehicle swerved into a ditch to avoid the crash, police said.

Minnetonka police and the patrol are investigating "whether alcohol or drugs were a factor," police said in a news release.

Hwy. 7 was closed for several hours after the crash.

Earlier Friday evening, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash that closed eastbound Interstate 694 in Brooklyn Center for several hours.

Travis J. Eckman, 40, of Brooklyn Park, was driving a 2009 Suzuki Sport Bike in the eastbound lane when his bike clipped the right rear of an eastbound 2013 Volkswagen Passat he was trying to pass, according to the State Patrol. He lost control of the bike and crashed at Humboldt Avenue N. at 5:09 p.m.

The driver of the car, Thomas E. Ohs, 63, of White Bear Lake, was not hurt. He was wearing a seat belt and showed no sign of alcohol use, the patrol said.

Eastbound 694 was shut down through Friday evening's rush hour as first responders and investigators worked at the scene.

On Friday, the Hennepin County medical examiner released the names of several others fatally injured in recent crashes on Minnesota roads.

Darrell E. Allord, 65, of Blaine, died Tuesday at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale of injuries suffered June 30 when the motorcycle he was driving struck another vehicle on Fawn Lake Drive NE. in Anoka County, the medical examiner said.

Oracio Guzman Jimenez, 37, of Cold Spring, Minn., died Tuesday at North Memorial of injuries suffered Monday in a crash in Rockville, in Stearns County.