Wrong-way driver causes crash on Highway 14

John Molseed, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
Updated ·1 min read

Apr. 7—BYRON, Minn. — Alcohol was a factor when two drivers avoided serious injury in a near head-on crash near Byron, Minnesota, Saturday, April 6, 2024.

According to a report from the Minnesota State Patrol, Sonny Bryan Garcia, 23, of Pharr, Texas, was driving a Ford pickup truck and turned west into the east-bound lanes of U.S. Highway 14 shortly before 10 p.m.

He nearly collided head-on with a sedan driven by Odin Tarek Kamel, 19, of Kasson, Minnesota. Kamel, who was in the left east-bound lane between mile markers 206 and 207 near Byron, tried to avoid the collision but Garcia struck the passenger side of the sedan. Airbags in both vehicles were deployed, according to the report.

Alcohol likely played a factor in the crash on Garcia's part, according to the report.

Both drivers were taken to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys with non-life threatening injuries.