ST. PAUL -- A Minnesota state senator who was injured in a snowmobile crash last week was essentially run over by a fellow state senator who couldn’t avoid him, according to Department of Natural Resources reports.
The reports, obtained Wednesday by the Pioneer Press, contain a more comprehensive — and different — account of the crash that left Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, with numerous broken bones than reports previously released by the Morrison County sheriff’s office. However, a new report released Wednesday by the sheriff’s office appears to reconcile the discrepancies.
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No wrongdoing is suggested in any of the reports on the incident, which all say involved Jasinski being thrown from his sled trying to navigate a sharp turn near the northern Minnesota community of Motley.
The most detailed DNR report, made by the agency top enforcement official who witnessed the entire event, states that after Jasinski was thrown from his sled, he was struck by a snowmobile driven by Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, who was riding behind Jasinski.
“His snowmobile struck Jasinski and stopped on top of him,” according to a report penned by Col. Rodmen Smith, head of the DNR’s Enforcement Division, who was riding immediately in front of Jasinski and interviewed both Jasinski and Johnson immediately after the Feb. 4 crash.
DNR official on ride
According to Smith’s report:
Smith was assigned to ride with a group of VIP riders participating in the Minnesota United Snowmobile Association’s winter rendezvous. At 10 a.m., he led the group, which included Jasinski and Johnson, on a ride from Cragun’s Resort on Gull Lake near Brainerd to The Castaway Club on Lake Alexander for a luncheon. About a half hour later, the group left and hit the trails again, with Smith in the lead, wearing a high-visibility jacket. They soon approached what Smith described as “a 90 degree” left turn.
Smith wrote: “The left turn was not marked with a trail marker indicating the turn ahead. As I slowed and started to make the turn, I felt an impact on the rear of my snowmobile.” That impact, Jasinski later told Smith, was Jasinski’s sled striking his, an event that didn’t damage Smith’s sled.
“I pulled my snowmobile to the side of the trail and turned around,” Smith wrote. “I could see people getting off their snowmobiles and running towards what appeared to be two snowmobiles that crashed together. As I ran towards the two snowmobiles, others in the group where already rolling the snowmobiles apart. I could see there was an individual that appeared to have been under the snowmobiles.”
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That individual was Jasinski, Smith soon discovered.
According to Smith’s report: “I asked what had happened and Jasinski stated the following:
- He was following behind me
- The left turn came up suddenly
- While slowing to make the turn, a ski on his snowmobile came in contact with the back of my snowmobile track
- That contact made his snowmobile roll to the side and fell off his machine
- He was then struck by another snowmobile
“I asked him whose snowmobile made contact with him, at which time Mark Johnson stated that it was his snowmobile that made contact with Jasinski.
“Johnson stated:
- He was following behind Jasinski
- He saw snowmobiles ahead making a left turn
- He slowed down
- He saw Jasinski’s snowmobile roll to the side and Jasinski fall off it
- He turned his handlebars to the right to avoid hitting Jasinski
- Once off the snowmobile, Jasinski’s momentum carried him in front of Johnson’s path and he was not able to avoid a collision
- His snowmobile struck Jasinski and stopped on top of him”
An initial Morrison County sheriff’s statement, released Monday, was consistent with Smith’s report, but a second “amended” statement suggested Johnson’s snowmobile never struck Jasinski. An incident report released Tuesday also suggested all of Jasinski’s injuries — he was the only one injured — were from being thrown and landing, not from any contact with Johnson’s sled. An additional report released Wednesday by the sheriff’s office referred to the DNR reports for further details.
New sheriff’s report
Wednesday’s sheriff’s report notes that both senators’ snowmobiles — Jasinski’s was red and Johnson’s was blue — were demonstration models. “It should be noted that both of these snowmobiles are brand new owned by Polaris and were currently demo models with no registration displayed,” according to the report, written by officer Mark Dzieweczysnki.
That report also clarifies another question that surfaced in the previous report: the status of Johnson’s snowmobile safety training certification. Neither Jasinski, 55, nor Johnson, 38, were able to furnish proof of such certification. It’s not required for Jasinski, but is for Johnson, under state law that requires anyone born after Dec. 31, 1976, to have such a certificate before operating a snowmobile.
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Johnson told Dzieweczysnki that he had completed certification, but the endorsement on his driver’s license failed to transfer when he renewed his license to Minnesota’s new enhanced license, which is processed using new software. Dzieweczysnki was sympathetic. “I advised Johnson that I personally had the same thing happen to me as I recently renewed my driver’s license to the enhanced version as well, and my snowmobile endorsement wouldn’t transfer over either,” he wrote.
A spokeswoman for Johnson confirmed he has a valid certificate.
“There are no charges pending,” his report concludes.
In a statement earlier this week, Jasinski described his injuries and outlook.
“The accident left me with three broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and fractured L5 vertebrae,” he said. “Because of the great care I received both at the accident site and in the hospital, I am expected to make a full recovery. … While the physical recovery may be long, I’m ready to participate with remote access for hearings and floor sessions and fully engage in this session.”
Johnson also issued a statement wishing “my friend and colleague the best in his recovery and look forward to having him back here at the Capitol as soon as he is able.”
