Crime & Safety

Bicyclist Killed in Collision with Snowplow Truck on E. River Rd. in Fridley

Fridley police found the 46-year-old man dead at the scene at 7 a.m. Sunday.

Updated below. A bicyclist died from a crash with a snowplow truck in the 4700 block of East River Road just before 7 a.m. Sunday, according to Anoka County Emergency Dispatch.

Fridley police responded to a call at 6:57 a.m. about a male hit by a plow truck. They found a 46-year-old man from New Brighton dead at the scene.

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Authorities said it appeared the bicyclist was struck in the left lane of traffic.* According to WCCO, the truck was headed south and the bicyclist was traveling north in a southbound lane at the time of the crash, and no one is in custody.

The death remains under investigation by the Fridley Police Department, Anoka County Sheriff's Office, Minnesota State Patrol and Midwest Medical Examiner's Office. 

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The plow truck is privately owned and operated. Both the driver and the company are cooperating with investigators.

The bicyclist is not being identified pending notification of next of kin.

According to the National Weather Service, sunrise on Sunday was at 7:52 a.m., or approximately one hour after the crash.

East River Road (Anoka County Road 1) runs between the Mississippi River and to the west, and a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railyard to the east. The 4700 block of East River Road is 10 blocks north of the border between Fridley and Minneapolis.

Update (Monday, 10 a.m.): Fridley police are still not releasing the name of the victim. The bike did not have a headlight as required by state law, according to a WCCO-TV video that shows a blue bike with a mangled front wheel and a child seat being loaded into the trunk of a Fridley police squad car. The bicycle does appear to have a front reflector.

Other recent incidents
Last summer, a and after being hit by a car on Mississippi Street NE in Fridley.

On Nov. 12, a 61-year-old Minneapolis man died after a pickup truck struck him on West River Parkway just south of the Franklin Avenue bridge in Minneapolis, according to authorities. The driver of the truck was charged with criminal vehicular homicide.

*Correction: This post originally said the bicyclist was in the left turn lane, but that stretch of East River Road does not have left turn lanes.


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