Driver, 25, crashes into stoplight in Bemidji and dies
A 25-year-old man was killed in a single-vehicle wreck in Bemidji late Saturday night.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Richard L. Erickson, of Bemidji, was driving a Toyota Tacoma on Highway 197 when he crashed at approximately 11:15 p.m.
The State Patrol says Erickson was southbound on the highway, also known as Paul Bunyan Drive, when he "continued straight in a slight curve" and struck a stoplight on the west side of the road.
Erickson wasn't wearing a seatbelt and alcohol may have been involved, the State Patrol said, noting that road conditions were also wet at the time of the crash.
No further information has been released.
Preliminary figures show there have been 379 deaths on Minnesota roads this year. That's just 15 shy of the 2020 total (394). There were 312 road deaths in Minnesota at the same point last year.
