Motorcyclist dies after going off the road in Stearns County

(FOX 9) - A motorcyclist was killed and another was injured when they each drove off the road in Stearns County on Sunday afternoon.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office responded to County Road 13 in Grove Township, about 1.5 miles south of Melrose, Minnesota, at 2:18 p.m., where they found two motorcyclists that had gone off the left side of the road and into the ditch where the road curves to the right. 

Aaron Schlingmann, 43, of Janesville, Minnesota, was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead. A second motorcyclist, a 45-year-old from Owatonna, Minnesota, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 

Neither was wearing a helmet.

The incident is under investigation.

According to the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, 300 people have died in traffic-related crashes this year, down from 334 road deaths at this same time in 2021. As of July 2022, 51 motorcyclists had died in crashes on Minnesota roads so far this year.