An Aitkin man is dead and four other people are injured following three crashes in the Brainerd area over the weekend.
James Joseph Collins, 83, died in a crash at 11:33 a.m. Saturday on Highway 47 in Spencer Township, Aitkin County. The 2007 Ford Explorer he was driving left the road to the right, and hit a tree, the Minnesota State Patrol said. Collins was the sole occupant of the vehicle. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Collins died at the scene.
In an incident Sunday, a 75-year-old man from Marble Rock, Iowa, suffered non-life-threatening injuries when he was ejected off his motorcycle, a 2015 Harley Davidson MC. Jerry Dean Hubbard, 75, was southbound on Highway 10 south of Royalton when he was rear-ended at 9:38 p.m. by an 2002 Audi Quattro driven by Austen Michael Leibel, 22, Crosslake. Leibel was not injured in the crash. Hubbard was treated at St. Cloud Hospital.
On Friday, three Little Falls men suffered non-life-threatening injuries when their 2002 Mitsubishi Montero Sport rolled on Highway 27 east of Long Prairie, in Bruce Township, Todd County. Evan Matthew Kline, 18, was driving east at 9:48 p.m. when he swerved to avoid a deer. Kline lost control, the vehicle rolled, and it came to rest on its wheels in the westbound ditch. Kline and his passengers Cody John Burjarski, 20, and Ian Riley Harris, 20, were all treated at CentraCare in Little Falls. All three were wearing seat belts.
