Truck hits campus connector, four injured

A campus connector en route to St. Paul was t-boned by a large truck Monday afternoon, injuring four people, said University of Minnesota police Chief Greg Hestness.

Three students and a University employee suffered minor injuries and were taken to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview via ambulance, Hestness said. The most critical was treated for “back and other injuries.”

Around 3 p.m. a truck heading south on Westgate Drive failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the middle of a campus connector bus traveling east on the University Transitway., Hestness said.

The bus was pushed off the road and went through a group of nearby trees, according to Jim Wellnitz, a Minnesota State Patrol officer. Wellnitz said the driver of the truck didn’t see the bus.

Jake Bouley, a University student who was on the bus when the accident occurred, said he was sitting directly in the place where the truck hit. He said he flew across the bus.

“I looked up like a split-second before, and I could tell that the semi wasn’t going to stop,” he said.

Bouley received stitches for cuts on his face.