State trooper airlifted after head-on crash near Fort Ripley, Minnesota

FORT RIPLEY TOWNSHIP, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota State trooper is recovering following a head-on crash near Fort Ripley Tuesday morning. 

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, shortly after 7:10 a.m., dispatch received a 911 call regarding a head-on crash at the intersection of Highway 371 and County Road 2 in Fort Ripley Township involving a State Patrol squad car and a Ford F-150. The crash occurred in the northbound lanes of the intersection. 

Both the State Patrol squad car and the F-150 had significant damage as a result of the crash. Trooper Gregg Gerhartz was extricated from the squad car and airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in the Twin Cities with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. 

The driver of the F-150, a 38-year-old Little Falls man, had non-life-threatening injuries. He was not transported to the hospital. 

The State Patrol says the trooper was responding to an emergency call, but did not have his emergency lights or siren activated at the time of the crash. 

Impairment is not suspected. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.