Hovland man swerves to avoid deer and crashes

A motorist swerved to avoid a deer, left the roadway and went down a steep embankment off Highway 61 near Horseshoe Bay in Hovland. The man suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to North Shore Hospital. Hovland and Colvill firefighters and First Responders assisted at the scene. Incident Commander Joe Peterson of Hovland and Assistant Hovland Fire Chief Terry Spieker await the tow trucks to get the truck out of the ravine.

Kenneth J. Stuart, 67, of Hovland, was traveling east on Highway 61 at about 1 p.m. on Monday, November 2, when he swerved to the right near milepost 130 to avoid hitting a deer. His 2011 Ford Ranger went down the steep embankment on the right ditch where it came to rest in a creek bed just before Horseshoe Bay.

Stuart was able to exit his vehicle and crawl up the bank to the roadway, but was in a great deal of pain when emergency responders from Hovland and Colvill arrived. Cook County Ambulance was called and he was transported to North Shore Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Stuart was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash and the truck’s airbags deployed.

Stuart had two French mastiff dogs in the vehicle with him and for a while they were missing. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Mary Manning and members of the Hovland STOP team searched for, and found, the dogs who appeared to have only minor injuries. The emergency responders took the dogs to Stuart’s house.

The Ford Ranger was so far into the ditch that it took three tow trucks from Cook County Towing to remove it. Two trucks were used; one to pull the vehicle and the other to keep it stable while the first truck was repositioned. The truck was completely totaled and the third truck, a flatbed, was used to tow it off.

Hovland Firefighter Joe Peterson, incident commander at the accident scene, said it was fortunate that Stuart had been able to make it up the embankment with his injuries. If he had not made it to the road, it is likely passing cars would not have spotted his vehicle.

The Hovland STOP team provided traffic assistance to keep one lane open. Peterson said there were only a few minutes when the highway was closed completely while the tow trucks were getting in place. The STOP team was clear of the scene at 8:30 p.m.