Wrong-way crash in Cottage Grove kills driver, 95, and passenger, 32

The head-on collision happened on Highway 61.

February 13, 2023 at 1:52AM

Police are investigating a fatal head-on crash involving a wrong-way car on Hwy. 61 in Cottage Grove that Minnesota State Patrol said Sunday left two women dead and a Wisconsin pair hospitalized.

According to an incident report, around 8:15 a.m. a Ford Fusion driven by Julia Ann Bild, 95, of Cottage Grove was traveling southbound in a northbound lane of Hwy. 61 near Jamaica Avenue when it collided head-on with an Audi Q5, driven by Charles Joseph Tentinger, 66 of Prescott, Wis. and passengers Carol Ann Tentinger, 64 of Prescott, Wis. and Tanya Ann Mott, 32, of Lakeville, Minn.

Bild and Mott both died in the crash according to the incident report.

The State Patrol said the Tentingers were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. A spokesman said Charles was in serious condition, while Carol was in critical, but stable, condition.

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about the writer

Dave Orrick

Minneapolis City Hall reporter

Dave Orrick covers Minneapolis city government for the Star Tribune. 

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