Friday crash sends five to the hospital

By Randy Hanson

Four Hudson High School students involved in a crash at Exit 4 on Interstate 94 were back in classes Monday morning.

You wouldn't have guessed they'd be there from the looks of the car they were riding in Friday morning after it collided with a pickup truck.

According to St. Croix County sheriff's deputy Richard Meyer, the Hudson teen-agers were southbound on County U, crossing over the interstate, when a truck driven by Clyde Wolf, 48, of River Falls, pulled from an exit ramp into their pathway.

The collision injured all but one of the six people riding in the two vehicles.

The driver of the car, Keri Knorn, 16, and two passengers - Joan Tauer, 15, and Jessica Peterson, 16, - suffered cuts and bruises to their faces. A fourth passenger riding in the back seat, Eric Affolter, 16, injured his right knee.

Wolf complained of back and shoulder pain following the accident, Meyer said. Wolf's son, Travis, age unknown, was the only one who wasn't hurt.

Both Hudson ambulances responded to the crash, along with a Lower St. Croix Valley ambulance from Lakeland, Minn. They took all of the victims but Peterson to Hudson Medical Center.

Peterson, who reportedly had pieces of glass in her eyes, was taken from the scene by a North Air helicopter to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

The Hudson Fire Department and numerous law enforcement officers also responded to the crash. St. Croix County Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said it took them about two hours to clean up the debris and investigate the crash.

County U and the bridge over the freeway were widened to four lanes, plus turning lanes, this summer. There are lines on the pavement to mark where traffic should stop for traffic lights, but the lights haven't been installed yet.

One of the first law enforcement officers on the scene of the crash said one of the girls had been knocked unconscious, but had come to again.

Firefighters used their extrication equipment to get one of the girls out of the car.

The accident happened at about 8:30 a.m.