Driver cited following crash that closed USH 2

One driver was cited for operating without a valid license following a two-vehicle crash with injuries along U.S. Highway 2 in Poplar on Sunday afternoon. The crash blocked the eastbound lane of traffic for nearly two hours.

The accident occurred at 2:30 p.m. Sunday when a westbound Chevrolet Avalanche driven by 19-year-old Tyler Hood of Iron River, collided with an eastbound Toyota Tundra pulling a camper trailer along Highway 2 near Wiehe Road, according to a Douglas County Sheriff’s Department report. The resulting collision shredded the lower half of the camper, sending debris and contents across both lanes and ditches of the highway.

Both the Avalanche and Tundra landed on their sides, one on the shoulder of the highway the other in a ditch.

The driver of the Tundra was identified as John Edwin Miller, 63, of Georgia, and his passenger, 68-year-old Suzanne Memmer of Georgia, was transported by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth after complaining of sore chest. She was not listed in the patient directory Monday afternoon.

Poplar Auto arrived and began cleaning up the camper debris and trailer chassis. The Douglas County Highway Department also assisted with their sweeper. While the westbound lane of Highway 2 opened, it took until 4:10 p.m. before cleanup was complete and the highway reopened.

Hood did not have a valid driver’s license and a citation was issued, according to the report.

Rain is believed to be one of the factors in the crash, which remains under investigation by the sheriff’s department.

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