Drunk driver crashes head-on with St. Cloud officer, 1 injured

A wrong-way driver under the influence of alcohol collided with a St. Cloud Police officer Sunday morning in St. Cloud.

According to the Waite Park Police Department, at about 6:21 a.m. officers were dispatched to the 3200 Block of County Road 74 to assist with a traffic crash.

An investigation shows that an on-duty officer with the St. Cloud Police Department was in the area on routine patrol and was not using his emergency lights and siren on any kind of emergency call. The marked police squad was traveling southbound on County Road 74 when the officer noted a minivan driving at him in the wrong lane northbound in the southbound lane of County Road 74. The officer swerved into the northbound lane to avoid impact with the other vehicle, but the other driver also tried to correct her position at the same time, crashing into the squad car in the northbound lane.

The crash report states there was significant front-end damage to both vehicles. The officer was able to exit his squad and went to check on the driver of the minivan. The driver of the van, identified as 20-year-old Grace Fedorenko from Waite Park, was transported to St. Cloud Hospital for evaluation and was listed with injuries that were not life-threatening.

A further investigation determined that Fedorenko was under the influence of alcohol. The Waite Park Police Department says charges of a felony-level criminal vehicular operation and fourth-degree DWI are pending as of Monday morning.