Parents sue Minn. State Patrol in crash death of their sons

A Moorhead, Minn., couple are suing the Minnesota State Patrol, alleging the agency mishandled the investigation into a crash that killed their two teenage sons.

Ray and Kathie Kvalvog's sons were students at Park Christian School in Moorhead when they traveled to Wisconsin for a basketball tournament in June 2015. Zach Kvalvog, 18, was driving the family pickup truck. His 14-year-old brother, Connor, was a passenger, along with two other members of the school basketball team.

They were driving last in a caravan behind two other vehicles driven by school coaches. On Interstate 94 near Dalton, Minn., the Kvalvog pickup was forced from the road by a semitrailer truck it was passing. The pickup rolled over, killing the two Kvalvog boys and injuring the other occupants.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the Kvalvogs allege that the investigating patrol officer, Rod Eischens, made inaccurate and misleading statements in his accident reconstruction report because of his close relationship to Park Christian School and several individuals involved with the school.

The suit also alleges that Col. Matthew Langer, commander of the State Patrol, knew the accident report was inaccurate but refused to correct it, claiming that to do so "would give the State Patrol a black eye."

Eischens and his wife are close friends of Christopher Nellermoe, Park Christian's president, according to the suit. Eischens' daughter is married to a Park Christian graduate, and her wedding — just three weeks after the fatal crash — was attended by Nellermoe and many Park Christian families, the lawsuit says.

"Eischens engaged in a systematic effort to mold the crash report to fit the narrative that absolved [the school] of liability," the lawsuit alleges.

Jimmy Morton, a passenger in the Kvalvog truck who survived the crash, gave a 26-page statement to Eischens the day after the accident, the lawsuit says. But Eischens hid the statement for three years, the suit claims, because the witness' recollection of the event might call his reconstruction report into question.

The report submitted by Eischens also improperly downplayed the role of speed in the accident, the Kvalvogs allege. Court testimony showed that the caravan was traveling at 80 to 84 mph, well over the posted speed limit of 70 mph.

The lawsuit also names as defendants Park Christian School and several individuals who were school officials or coaches at the time of the crash. It also names several of the State Patrol officers who supervised Eischens.

A spokesman for the State Patrol said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Park Christian School also said it would not comment.

The Kvalvogs previously sued Park Christian School for its role in the crash, arguing that the school was negligent in not furnishing transportation to a school-sanctioned activity. In 2019, a jury held that the school was not liable, but found the semi driver — who has never been identified or questioned — liable.

"I refer to it as white-knuckle driving for those boys, inexperienced drivers, who were trying to keep up with the coaches who were driving well in excess of the speed limit," McAllen said in an interview. "If the school isn't going to furnish a vehicle, the boys should have been [riding] with the coaches."

However, McAllen added that he found it hard to believe Eischens — whom he personally trained as a reconstruction specialist — would intentionally produce a misleading report.

"I would be shocked if he would change anything to make it look different than it actually is," he said. "Rod is the straightest arrow in the quiver.

"We're all human. We do the best we can with the resources we have, and that's what Rod did. And unfortunately, there are some errors in the report."