Weekend ATV Crashes In Central Minnesota Leave 2 Men Dead

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Two men died over the weekend in separate ATV crashes in central Minnesota.

The first fatal crash happened in Meeker County Friday evening, when 66-year-old David Ahlgren, of Darwin, was fatally injured after his ATV flipped over in a ditch and pinned him underneath.

The sheriff's office said his family reported him missing after he went out to spray weeds and didn't return. Relatives later found Ahlgren underneath his ATV.

A preliminary investigation showed that one of the ATV's wheels dropped into a washout before the vehicle flipped into the ditch.

The second fatal crash happened Sunday evening in Morrison County. The sheriff's office says 30-year-old Justin Bateman, of Little Falls, was riding an ATV in Belle Prairie Township when he hit a driveway approach and was thrown from the vehicle.

He was not wearing a helmet, and died at the scene.