An SUV driver disobeyed a stop sign at a rural northwestern Minnesota intersection, hit another vehicle and was killed, authorities said Sunday.
The collision occurred about 11:20 p.m. Saturday east of Thief River Falls in Clover Leaf Township, according to the State Patrol.
Gary I. Austad, 58, of Lake Bronson, Minn., died in the Pennington County crash. His SUV rolled into a ditch. He was not using his seat belt, and evidence at the scene indicated that he had been drinking alcohol, the patrol said.
The two people in the other vehicle, Rita Giddings, 31, and Gabriel Reese, 9, were taken to a Thief River Falls hospital for treatment of noncritical injuries, the patrol said. Both are from Roseau.
Austad was heading north on County Road 22, "did not stop for the stop sign" and hit Giddings' vehicle as she drove east on Hwy. 1, the patrol said in a statement.
Giddings and the 9-year-old had on their seat belts, the patrol said.
