BEMIDJI - A Bemidji man suffered a serious injury after the car he was driving collided with another vehicle Monday afternoon, sending a total of three people to the hospital, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Troopers with the MSP and deputies with the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office and the Bemidji Police Department were called to the intersection of U.S. Highway 71 and Lakewood Drive Northwest just before 5 p.m. Monday. There, two four-door vehicles, both badly damaged, sat unmoving. According to the patrol, Matthew Lindell, 27, was crossing the roadway eastbound on Lakewood Drive when his 1989 Chevrolet Celebrity was struck by a 2008 Cadillac CTS driven by Cathy Souder, 54, of Turtle River, who was southbound on Highway 71. Contact was made in a T-bone manner, the patrol said. Firefighters with the Bemidji Fire Department, along with paramedics, worked to free Lindell from the car. He was placed on a stretcher and taken from the scene by ambulance. The southbound lanes of Highway 71 were shut down for a time,as emergency personnel worked to remove the occupants from their vehicles.
Lindell suffered a serious injury, the patrol said. Souder and a passenger in her vehicle, Jessica Mehutcs, 28, of Turtle River, suffered non life-threatening injuries, the patrol said.
The Minnesota State Patrol is handling investigation of the accident, said Beltrami County emergency management coordinator Beryl Wernberg.
