Authorities have identified the man who died after being run over by a semitrailer truck on a highway west of the Twin Cities.
Jacob J. Merges, 34, of Cokato, Minn., was standing in the right lane of eastbound Hwy. 12 near Cokato about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, when he was hit by the semi, according to the State Patrol.
The trucker had his lights illuminated, "braked and attempted to take [an] evasive maneuver," a statement from the patrol said.
Emergency responders arrived and declared Merges dead at the scene, the patrol said.
The truck driver, Gregory A. Nelson, 56, of nearby Dassel, was not hurt in the collision.
Paul Walsh
