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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Sept. 12, 2011
CONTACT: Lt. Brett Schutt, SD Highway Patrol, 605-626-2286.
Highway 12 Two-Vehicle Fatal Crash
What: Two-vehicle fatal crash
When: Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, 12:50 p.m.
Where: US Highway 12 overpass, I-29 mile marker 207, Summit, SD
When: Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, 12:50 p.m.
Where: US Highway 12 overpass, I-29 mile marker 207, Summit, SD
Driver 1: Joshua Michael Gillen, 36, Northfield, Minn., fatal
Vehicle 1: 1995 Harley Davidson XLH883 motorcycle
Driver 2: Willis Arlen Kruse, 76, Columbia, SD, minor injuries
Passenger 1: Darlys Ann Kruse, 73, Columbia, SD, minor injuries
Vehicle 2: 2005 Buick LeSabre
SUMMIT, S.D. – A Northfield, Minn., man died in a two-vehicle crash Sunday, Sept. 11, on U.S. Highway 12 at the Interstate 29 overpass near Summit.
Joshua Michael Gillen, 36, died when the 1995 Harley Davidson motorcycle he was driving and a 2005 Buick LeSabre collided on the U.S. Highway 12 overpass at mile post 207. Willis Arlen Kruse, 76, of Columbia, S.D., was driving the Buick.
Gillen was eastbound on Highway 12. Kruse left I-29 at the Summit exit and turned left onto Highway 12, traveling west in the eastbound lane. The vehicles collided head-on in the eastbound lane. Gillen was wearing a helmet but was thrown from the motorcycle and died at the scene.
Kruse and a passenger, 73-year-old Darlys Ann Kruse of Columbia, were wearing seatbelts. They were taken to a Webster hospital with minor injuries.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor. No further information is immediately available.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating. Roberts County Sheriff’s Office and Summit Fire Department assisted.
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