A motorcycle struck a deer around dawn on a central Minnesota road, and the collision killed the operator and injured his passenger, authorities said Monday.
The crash occurred shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday in Hillman Township, according to the Morrison County Sheriff's Office.
Jay Saldana, 53, of Rice, Minn., was traveling west along a curve on Partridge Road, where he hit the deer, the Sheriff's Office said.
Saldana and his passenger, Kim Gross, 52, of St. Cloud, were thrown from the motorcycle.
Saldana died at a St. Cloud hospital. Gross was being treated Monday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale for serious injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The two were not wearing helmets.
