State Patrol Investigates Distracted Trooper Crash

SAUK CENTRE  (AP) - The State Patrol is investigating a crash caused by a trooper who ran a stop sign in Stearns County.

The patrol says the trooper Greg Gerhartz told investigators he had just finished a traffic stop and was entering the information into his laptop moments before the crash at an intersection in Sauk Centre Township.

His squad collided with a SUV driven by an 80-year-old Sauk Centre man. He, his 73-year-old passenger and the trooper suffered non-life threatening injuries. State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske says the Nov. 11 crash wasn't reported until now because there were no serious injuries.

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