By Shereen Siewert
One of two people injured in an early morning crash Monday in Portage County has died of his injuries, according to a sheriff’s department news release.
Police have identified the victim as 23-year-old James Johnston, of Pine Grove. Johnson was airlifted to Aspirus Wausau hospital shortly after the crash and later died.
A second passenger in the vehicle, 22-year-old Dakota Baird of the Adams County town of Leola, was transported to Saint Michael’s Hospital in Stevens Point where he was treated for his injuries. Baird has since been released from the hospital.
Police have not yet said which of the two men was behind the wheel of the pickup when the crash happened.
Deputies and rescue crews were called at about 3:41 a.m. to a report of a single-vehicle rollover on Harding Road, about 750 south of Mosquito Bluff Road in the town of Pine Grove. Investigators say the driver was headed southbound on Harding Road when he lost control, entered the west ditch and flipped the pickup several times. Both men were ejected from the vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation.
