Nicollet man charged with animal cruelty after his three cows escape and are struck by cars on highway

A Nicollet man with a history of allowing his horses and cows to escape his property is facing animal cruelty charges after three of his cows escaped last summer and were struck and killed by vehicles, sending two people to the hospital.

Dating back to August 2021, Aaron D. Lambrecht, 46, has had 22 interactions with law enforcement concerning his animals escaping, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 23. Less than two months before the crashes, he received two public nuisance citations.

His 23rd contact came July 24. First responders were called to milepost 116 of Hwy. 14 in Nicollet County at 4:16 a.m. regarding a series of crashes involving cows.

It’s unclear from the criminal complaint how spaced out the three crashes were, but the first car hit a cow and the vehicle rolled onto its roof. The next two drivers each hit a cow and ended up in ditches. All cars were driving between 60 and 69 miles per hour, the complaint said.

The first driver suffered a compressed back fracture and a broken leg. The second had no injuries. The third suffered cuts and glass in her eye, the complaint said.

All three cows were killed.

Lambrecht admitted to law enforcement the cows were able to push their way out of their enclosure, the complaint said. Tracks were visible from there to the highway.

Lambrecht was charged with two misdemeanor counts of public nuisance and three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. It was not clear Thursday if he had an attorney.