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• Several injured in weekend Pepin County motorcycle accidents

By Brady Bautch, RiverTown Staff

Emergency responders were busy near Stockholm on Saturday afternoon responding to three motorcycle accidents that injured four people from Minnesota, including one who had to be airlifted.

The first accident happened at around 2:10 p.m. on Highway 35 in Stockholm near the intersection of CTH J, according to the Pepin County Sheriff's Department.

Officials say that Thomas Malles, 27, Lake City, was driving a 1993 Yamaha southbound when the motorcycle accelerated quickly causing his wife, Amanda, to fall off the back.

She was taken to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Wabasha, Minn., by the Maiden Rock/Plum City Ambulance Service. She was later transferred to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester were she was treated and released.

Shortly afterwards another accident took place on Highway 35, about three miles north of Stockholm.

Pepin County authorities say that Michael Dungy, 59, Winona, was northbound driving a 1999 Harley-Davidson and was approaching a car that had stopped to make a left turn into the wayside.

Dungy braked suddenly and then the motorcycle skidded out of control.

He was taken to a local hospital by the Ellsworth Ambulance Service.

The next accident happened at around 4:40 p.m., along Highway 35 about halfway between Stockholm and Pepin in the Town of Pepin.

According to the Pepin County Sheriff's Department, a 2007 Harley-Davidson operated by Michael Berge, 49, St. Paul, had stopped to make a left turn onto Bogus Road and was waiting for oncoming traffic.

A 1999 Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by Robert Harris, 47, Little Canada, Minn., was slowing down behind the stopped motorcycle when it was struck by a third motorcycle.

That third motorcycle was a 1999 Yamaha, driven by Robert Ernster, 41, Lino Lakes, Minn. After hitting the Harris' motorcycle, Ernster's motorcycle then hit the stopped motorcycle.

Lisa Lundmark, 43, Champlin, Minn., who was a passenger on the stopped motorcycle, had to be airlifted from the scene to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. On Tuesday morning a hospital spokeswoman listed her condition as fair.

Ernster was arrested by the Wisconsin State Patrol for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and for causing injury while intoxicated. He was then transported to the Fairview Red Wing (Minn.) Medical Center.

Emergency responders from the Lund Fire and Ambulance Service, Pepin Ambulance Service, Pierce County Sheriff's Department and Pepin Police Department assisted at the scene.