Tragic Crash in St. Cloud Claims Two Lives

(This story has been updated with new information.)

A truck driver from Sauk Rapids was involved in a fatal accident on Wednesday night in St. Cloud, resulting in the deaths of two men. Their identities were released on Thursday afternoon, July 3.

At approximately 11:45 p.m. on July 2, a St. Cloud police officer was driving south on Ninth Avenue North when he spotted a truck heading north at a high speed, reportedly exceeding the legal limit. Notably, the truck’s headlights were off despite the late hour.

The officer initiated a traffic stop, and the truck initially complied, pulling over in the 1100 block of Eighth Avenue North. However, as the officer approached, the driver allegedly discarded an item from the passenger window and fled at high speed before the officer could react. The officer attempted to locate the vehicle again but was unsuccessful.

Upon returning to the traffic stop location, the officer found a firearm where the truck driver had allegedly thrown an object. Shortly after, dispatch informed officers of a traffic collision occurring in the 1300 block of 10th Avenue North.

Officers who went to the crash site identified one of the vehicles as the truck that had evaded the earlier traffic stop. Preliminary investigations indicated that the truck was speeding north on 10th Avenue North while a passenger car was moving west on 13th Street North when the two collided, resulting in the fatalities of both passengers in the car. The victims were identified as Suleiman Mohamud Abdi, 59, the driver, and Craig Arthur Hennen, 45, a passenger, both from St. Cloud.

The truck driver, a 26-year-old man from Sauk Rapids, was taken to St. Cloud Hospital and is currently in critical condition. The investigation is ongoing, conducted by the St. Cloud Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit and the Minnesota State Patrol.

This article was initially published in the St. Cloud Times: Two killed in St. Cloud crash after truck T-bones car.