A motorist from St. Charles, Minn., died Sunday afternoon after he crashed into a tow truck parked on the side of an ice- and snow-covered southeastern Minnesota highway.

Dane Eric Christenson, 32, was headed south on Hwy. 52 in Marion Township just outside of Rochester when the crash occurred near SE. 36th Avenue, the State Patrol said.

Christenson, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.

The tow truck driver, identified by the patrol as Cody Christopher Hou, 23, of Eyota, Minn., was uninjured. A passenger in the truck, Emily Ann Banick, 26, of Pine Island, was also uninjured, the patrol said.

The patrol responded to 139 other crashes statewide.

Tim Harlow