At least seven people were killed in Minnesota traffic crashes over the weekend.
According to authorities:
• Adam Michael Blesener, 32, of Inver Grove Heights was killed shortly before 3:15 a.m. Saturday when his vehicle struck a truck at County Roads 47 and 88 near Randolph in southern Dakota County.
Blesener ran a Star Tribune distribution center, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up to raise money for a funeral. He was on his way to deliver newspapers when he collided with a semi, the fundraising site stated.
The Dakota County sheriff’s office is investigating.
• Bicyclist Phillip Andrew Ilg, 56, of New Prague died shortly after 7:30 a.m. Saturday when he collided with a sport-utility vehicle on Minnesota 25, west of Belle Plaine, in Sibley County.
The Minnesota State Patrol said that Ilg was westbound on Highway 25 when he collided with a westbound Ford Explorer.
The SUV’s driver, a 16-year-old girl, was not identified by the State Patrol.
• In Aitkin County, a motorist was killed shortly after 11:30 a.m. Saturday when his Ford Explorer left southbound Minnesota 47 and struck a tree.
The victim was identified by the State Patrol as James Joseph Collins, 83, of Aitkin.
• In Wabasha County, a motorist was killed shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday when his Chevrolet Suburban left the roadway on County Road 15, hit a field approach, landed on its roof and struck a power pole.
The victim, a 48-year-old man from Dodge Center, hadn’t been identified as of Sunday night.
• A 59-year-old Clear Lake man was killed Friday afternoon when his motorcycle crashed on westbound U.S. 10 in Sherburne County.
The State Patrol identified James Lee Rouleau as the victim of the 1:30 p.m. crash.
• A 17-year-old driver was killed Friday morning when his car went off Minnesota 30 at 7:34 a.m. near Storden in Cottonwood County.
Jonathan Escobar Lopez, of Storden, was identified as the victim by the State Patrol.
Also last weekend, a woman who was learning to drive in a St. Paul high school parking lot on Saturday afternoon lost control of her car and fatally struck her 3-year-old son.
The crash happened about 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Harding Senior High School.
The driver, Wah Has Paw, 39, of St. Paul was “visibly shaken and emotional” when police arrived on the scene, according to a St. Paul police report.
According to the initial investigation, Paw was with several family members practicing her driving in the parking lot when she accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
“The car quickly careened out of control, struck her son, Hsa Kpaw Moo Ku, and pinned him against a large clothing collection box,” police spokesman Steve Linders said in a news release.