One driver airlifted, another charged following Rice County crash

One man was airlifted and another man charged following a crash in Rice County Wednesday.

The crash happened on Rice Co Rd 46 in Webster Township just after 6 a.m.   When deputies arrived on the scene they found two vehicles with two victims.

The driver of a pickup, Felipe Israel Ramirez Sol, 37, of Brooklyn Center, was airlifted to a metro area trauma center.  He was listed in serious but stable condition by the Rice County Sheriff’s Office at the time of their release.

The driver of an Audi A6, Miguel Angel Carreon Balderas, 27, of Owatonna, was transported to a Northfield hospital by ambulance.

Balderas was treated and released from a hospital, then transported to the Rice County Jail.  He is being held on charges of criminal vehicular operation, fifth-degree drug possession, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Initial crash investigation shows that the Audi had been traveling northbound on Hazelwood when it crossed the centerline and collided with Sol’s Ram pickup truck, which was towing a fifth-wheel trailer.

The crash remains under investigation.