Authorities suspect that impaired driving was a factor in a head-on crash Sunday in Itasca County that left one person dead and another person in critical condition.
The State Patrol said the driver of a Ford Explorer heading east on Hwy. 169 crossed the centerline and struck a westbound Dodge Ram truck head-on just after 5 a.m. in Greenway Township between Hibbing and Grand Rapids.
The driver of the Dodge truck, a 69-year-old man from Hibbing, was killed in the crash. His name has not been released.
Matthew Kirkpatrick, the driver of the Explorer, was taken to a hospital in Duluth with life-threatening injuries, the patrol said.
Kirkpatrick, 38, of Keewatin, Minn., was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
The crash remains under investigation, but "impaired driving is suspected," the patrol's report said.
Tim Harlow
