A quiet rural stretch of Mullen Road in St. Joseph turned deadly Friday afternoon when a car rolled and trapped its driver, killing a 22-year-old St. Cloud man.
The crash happened just after 3 p.m. in the 7800 block of Mullen Road. A passerby spotted a vehicle that had rolled over and a person pinned beneath it, then called 911. When emergency crews arrived, they found the driver partially ejected and trapped under the car. He was later identified as 22-year-old Cody Strong of St. Cloud.
According to WJON, Strong was heading east through a series of curves when his vehicle left the roadway and went into the south ditch. Investigators say the car then overcorrected, crossed back over the road, and entered the north ditch before rolling. Stearns County deputies, St. Joseph police and St. Joseph Fire and Rescue all responded to the scene. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office reports Strong was partially ejected and pinned beneath the vehicle, and the crash remains under investigation.
Response and investigation
So far, local law enforcement is not saying whether speed, impairment or any other factors played a role as investigators work to reconstruct what happened. Officials are asking anyone who saw the crash or has video of the incident to contact the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office through the Stearns County Sheriff's Office website or by calling the department.
Statewide crash trends
Single-vehicle rollovers like this one often start with a run-off-road moment, followed by a sudden over-correction. Minnesota crash data show that running off the road and over-correcting or oversteering are common contributing factors in these kinds of wrecks, and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reports those behaviors are especially prevalent among younger drivers.
The crash also comes in April, when the DPS Office of Traffic Safety runs an extra distracted-driving enforcement and awareness campaign. Authorities have not indicated that distraction was involved in this case.
Stearns County officials and emergency crews remained on scene after the crash. The county coroner and sheriff’s office are expected to release additional details as the investigation moves forward. This story will be updated as new information is made public.
