Memorial to young people killed in Big Lake accident

BIG LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) – Two crosses along Highway 25 identify Anthony Scott Krider and Donovan Paul Gobel as the two 17-year-old boys from Elk River who died early Saturday morning after a devastating car crash in Big Lake.

Friends, family and neighbors came to the crash site on Sunday and left flowers, balloons and candles for the boys. The crash left Charles Walter Gabrelcik hospitalized at Hennepin Healthcare with life-threatening injuries.

“It was just so sad, so heartbreaking,” neighbor Ashley Wannebo Perron told FOX 9. “It looked like it had been hit by a train. It was horrible.”

The force of the impact apparently tore the bark off a tree in the front yard of a single-family home.

“That bang and also the screeching of the tires woke up some people,” Wannebo Perron continued. “That tree saved the life of (my neighbor) and that of his nephew, because they were sleeping in the living room, right in front of that tree.”

The State Patrol reports that the roads were dry when the boys crashed shortly before 3 a.m. All three boys were wearing seat belts in a 2011 BMW 535. It is not known whether alcohol was involved.

“You can see that they were going too fast,” said Wannebo Perron.

Shortly before the accident, a Big Lake police officer spotted the speeding car and turned around to stop it. By that time, however, police say, the car had left the road and overturned on a curve near Pleasant Avenue.

A day later, Tony’s younger brother Johnny joined the mourners. The 11-year-old said he will cherish the memories of playing video games and mountain biking with his only brother.

“He’s one of those brothers that would do anything for you,” Johnny concluded. “He’ll do anything in his power to do anything for anyone he cares about or loves.”