Teen Severely Injured After Wrong-Way Crash on I-94 Near Bloom Exit

A 17-year-old boy from Fargo was severely injured late Thursday night after driving his Ford Explorer eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 94 near the Bloom exit, striking an oncoming pickup head-on and requiring extrication by two Jamestown fire departments, according to Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser.

The Stutsman County Communications Center received the first alert around 10:07 p.m. March 12, a report of the Explorer traveling the wrong direction on I-94. Within minutes, Kaiser said, the center began receiving multiple calls about a crash near Exit 262.

The Explorer struck a Ford F-350 pickup driven by a 25-year-old man from Medina. A 20-year-old woman was also in the F-350; her city of residence was not available. Both occupants of the pickup were treated for minor injuries at Jamestown Regional Medical Center.

The juvenile was not as fortunate. Jamestown Fire Department and Jamestown Rural Fire Department extricated him from the Explorer before Jamestown Area Ambulance transported him to Fargo for treatment of severe injuries. The specific hospital was not identified.

Kaiser said alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. No charges or arrests had been reported as of publication. The Stutsman County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, and the North Dakota Highway Patrol also responded to the scene.