North Shore resident killed when a rock goes through the windshield

 

Two Harbors police chief Rick Hogenson at a press conference on Tuesday, May 9, released the name of the Cook County resident, Kay Spielman, 46, who died from her injuries sustained when a softball-sized rock went through her windshield at the edge of town last Friday, May 5.

Hogenson said there is no threat to the public, and the cause of the rock in the roadway is still being investigated.

The accident occurred just as Spielman’s vehicle, an extended cab pickup, was entering city limits on southbound Highway 61 just before Park Road (the turnoff toward the city campgrounds and Burlington Bay). A call came into emergency dispatch of a medical emergency at 2:01 p.m. Friday, May 5.

The Two Harbors police department and the State Patrol, Lake County rescue, and the ambulance service responded.

“The police department arrived to find a group of citizens attempting to gain access (to Spielman’s vehicle),” said Hogenson, who further remarked that he was heartened by the attempt of ordinary citizens to help Spielman.

Spielman was brought by ambulance to Lake View Hospital and, from there, brought by air transport to a medical facility in Duluth, where she later died from the injuries received in the incident.

The incident remains under active investigation, with Hogenson saying that many concerns are being raised by the public, including the fear that someone dropped or threw the rock into oncoming traffic, something that killed a woman in Colorado recently. That, however, is not a scenario that police are considering.

When asked if the rock might have fallen to the roadway from a hauling truck, Hogenson stated that possibility was being looked into.

“The Two Harbors police department does not believe there is a threat to the safety of the public and that this was an isolated incident,” said Hogenson.

Hogenson noted that Spielman’s family wanted the north shore community to know that Kay was an organ donor and they hoped she would be remembered as a caring and giving person who would live on through her act of helping others in need.

While there is no camera directed to the area of the accident, Hogenson said footage from a nearby camera is being reviewed to see what vehicles may have been passing by at the time of the accident. Any tips can be called in at 218.834.5566.