A Lake City man is fighting for his life after his car collided with a semi-truck at the intersection of Highway 61 and Borners Court Thursday afternoon. The crash happened around 12:16 p.m. and left 53-year-old Joseph Raymond Roche with life-threatening injuries, while the truck driver walked away unharmed.
Roche was driving a 2007 Saturn Ion northbound on Highway 61 when he collided with a 2024 Freightliner headed south, according to KIMT. The truck's driver, 52-year-old Derrick Wade Armstead of Cottage Grove, was not injured in the crash. Roche was rushed to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester with life-threatening injuries.
Seat Belt Use Remains Unclear
Whether Roche was wearing his seat belt remains unclear. The Minnesota State Patrol said alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the crash, and road conditions were dry when the two vehicles collided at the intersection.
Lake City police, the Lake City Fire Department and an ambulance crew all responded to the scene to assist.
Another Highway 61 Crash Involving the Same Driver
Notably, Roche was involved in a separate crash near Wabasha in Pepin Township just over a year earlier. On July 11, 2025, a vehicle-versus-motorcycle crash occurred on U.S. Highway 61 near Wabasha in Pepin Township, according to a report from Yahoo News. In that incident, Roche, then 52 and driving a 2006 Honda Accord northbound, was not injured, while the motorcyclist he collided with, 40-year-old Nathan John Cota of Inver Grove Heights, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys. That crash, which happened around 11:40 a.m., drew a response from the Minnesota State Patrol, Wabasha Fire Department, Wabasha Ambulance Service and Lake City Police Department.
