Life Flight called after serious crash near Dalton

Life Flight was called to a rural Otter Tail County intersection east of Dalton after a two-vehicle crash left 29-year-old Hernando Murillo of Denver with severe chest injuries. The pickup driver, 59-year-old Andrew Lacy of Fergus Falls, was not hurt.

The collision happened about 11 a.m. at the intersection of Otter Tail County Highways 12 and 39. According to the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, Murillo was heading south on County Highway 39 when he failed to stop at a stop sign and T-boned an eastbound pickup towing a trailer.

Authorities said Murillo was not wearing a seat belt when the impact happened. He was flown by Life Link Air Med for treatment of severe chest injuries, a level of response that signals how hard the crash hit and how quickly emergency crews had to move to get him to higher-level care.

Lacy’s pickup, which was towing the trailer, was struck broadside in the crash. Even though the driver was not injured, the scene drew an air medical response because of Murillo’s condition and the force of the impact at the intersection.

The sheriff’s office said alcohol was not a factor in the crash, and no charges had been filed. Those details leave the collision as a stark example of how quickly a stop-sign mistake at a rural crossing can turn into a serious emergency on the roads east of Dalton.

For drivers in the Dalton area and along the county highway grid, the crash also highlighted the vulnerability of intersections where local traffic, farm equipment and towing vehicles mix at higher speeds. At County Highways 12 and 39, one missed stop sign was enough to send a Fergus Falls resident through a violent side-impact collision and put a Denver man in the air on the way to the hospital.