A pickup truck smashed into two cars Monday afternoon on University Avenue Southeast, destroying a bus shelter and closing the eastbound lane for more than an hour.
Two people were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with injuries.
“What I heard was a loud screeching, like an unnaturally long tire screech,” said Ollie Dodge, an employee of Cafe Prague, located on the corner of University and 27th avenues Southeast, where the accident occurred.
He then heard a crash and saw a cloud of dust — from the car running into the bus shelter outside his window, Dodge said — after which he called Minneapolis police.
An unidentified woman was bleeding from injuries after her white Beretta was struck from behind by a Ford Ranger pickup truck heading toward campus around 12:30 p.m. The impact sent her car more than 100 feet into a bus shelter on the corner.
The truck then rear-ended a Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Michael Jones of Minneapolis. His girlfriend, Bridgette Rose, a passenger in Jones’ vehicle, was taken to the medical center complaining of neck and back injuries.
“We were just coming back from eating breakfast. We were heading home,” Jones said.
All three vehicles were rendered undrivable. Despite the injuries and property damage, no charges were filed.
It is unclear why the accident occurred. Both vehicles struck by the truck were waiting to make a left-hand turn from University Avenue Southeast onto 27th Avenue Southeast. The driver of the pickup truck refused to comment.
“The accident is still under investigation,” said Officer Brian Illgen. “It was a simple (personal-injury) accident.”
Because it was a relatively straight-forward accident, investigating officers did not think it was necessary to reconstruct it, which would have been normal procedure if charges were to be filed, Illgen said.
University and city police closed down University Avenue Southeast for more than one hour while road crews and a street sweeper cleaned up broken glass that littered the intersection.
V. Paul Virtucio welcomes comments at [email protected].
