APPLE VALLEY, MN — A man was seriously hurt Thursday afternoon after being run over by a sedan and pinned underneath it in a residential driveway in Apple Valley, according to police.
Witnesses told officers the man was trying to stop the vehicle from rolling backward down a steep driveway when the incident happened. Emergency crews later lifted the car off him and took him to a hospital.
Apple Valley police said the call came in around 2:40 p.m. as an apparent bicycle crash, but investigators later found that no bicycle was involved.
Police first responded to a report of a bicyclist struck
Officers were sent to a home on Guild Avenue, just west of Wallace Park, after dispatchers received the initial report. What responders found at the scene was different from the first description.
Police said their investigation showed the victim had been trapped beneath the sedan rather than hit while riding a bicycle. The man’s identity has not been released, and officers have only said he was a male victim.
The location is a residential stretch near the park, and police have not said whether any other people were in the driveway when the car started moving.
Witnesses described a struggle to keep the car from rolling
According to witnesses, the vehicle began moving backward on the steep driveway, and the man tried to stop it. Police have not said exactly how the sedan moved or whether it was parked, in gear, or otherwise secured before it rolled.
The account from people at the scene suggests the man was caught in a dangerous moment where the car’s movement quickly turned into a rescue situation. First responders had to lift the sedan before he could be removed and taken for treatment.
Authorities have not said how severe his injuries are beyond describing them as serious.
The victim was taken to a hospital after crews freed him
Emergency personnel worked to get the man out from under the car before transporting him to a hospital. Police did not name the hospital or provide an update on his condition beyond saying he was seriously injured.
The need to raise the vehicle to free the victim underscores how forcefully he was pinned. Police have not said how long he remained under the sedan before responders were able to reach him.
Investigators have also not said whether the man was alone when the incident happened or whether anyone else tried to help before crews arrived.
Investigators have not said what caused the sedan to move
Police have not released details about what caused the car to roll or whether anyone was inside it at the time. Those unanswered questions remain central to the investigation.
The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting Apple Valley police with the case. That added involvement suggests investigators are still piecing together exactly what happened on the driveway.
For now, officials are treating the incident as a serious injury case tied to an uncontrolled vehicle movement at a home in the city.
Steep driveways can turn a simple parking mistake into a dangerous emergency
Although police have not linked the incident to any broader safety warning, the details point to the risks of vehicles moving unexpectedly on sloped residential driveways. A car that starts to roll can become difficult to stop quickly, especially if someone is directly behind or beside it.
In this case, witnesses said the man tried to prevent the sedan from moving downhill, but he was pinned instead. Police have not said whether mechanical failure, driver error, or some other factor played a role.
The investigation remains open as authorities continue to sort out how the sedan came to move and why the man was trapped beneath it.
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