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Kearney business owner Ron Blessing has been identified as the victim of a runaway bulldozer accident Wednesday morning in Kearney.

KEARNEY — Kearney business owner Ron Blessing has been identified as the victim of a runaway bulldozer accident Wednesday morning in Kearney.

At 10:33 a.m. Kearney police were called to Blueprint Engines at 2915 Marshall Ave., where Blessing, owner of Blessing Construction of Kearney, was accidentally run over by a bulldozer, a Kearney Police Department news release said.

Following the accident, the bulldozer continued, unattended, traveling south through a field until it became stuck in a ditch.

Witness statements indicated Blessing had been operating the bulldozer prior to the accident, the release said.

Blessing was transported to CHI Good Samaritan in Kearney, where he died.

This incident remains under investigation by the Kearney Police Department and Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office.

See how your hometown ranks among the most dangerous cities in Nebraska. Ratings have been determined according to the number of violent crimes per 1,000 people in cities of at least 10,000, with violent crime being classified as murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The numbers are for 2019, the most recent year for which the FBI provides data.

With 30 violent crimes in 2019 and a population of 12,771 (the smallest on our list), the city in northeast Nebraska had 2.35 violent crimes per 1,000 people.

Photo: An RV park in South Sioux City on the Missouri River. 

The city of 15,862 had 53 violent crimes for a rate of 3.34 per 1,000 in 2019.

Photo: Gering Police Officer Jordan McBride talks with Scottsbluff Police Officer Michael Modeac as he puts up crime scene tape at the scene of an armed standoff in Scottsbluff in June 2021. 

With a population of 23,705 and 89 violent crimes, the city had a rate of 3.75 per 1,000.

Photo: Union Pacific train engines line up outside a service building in North Platte.

The Star City had a population of 291,128 with 1,115 violent crimes, a rate of 3.83 per 1,000.

Photo: Police in Lincoln investigate a shooting near the intersection of 14th and E streets in August 2019. 

With a population of 51,821 and 236 violent crimes, the largest of the Tri Cities had a 2019 rate of 4.55 per 1,000 people.

Photo: Grand Island police and State Patrol personnel investigate after a body was found in a Grand Island yard in August 2020. 

In 2019, the state's largest city at 470,481 people had 2,833 violent crimes for a rate of 6.13 per 1,000.

Photo: Omaha police and University Police guard the entrance to the Nebraska Medicine Emergency room after an Omaha police officer was shot at Westroads Mall in March 2021. 

With eight violent crimes in 2019, Boys Town topped the state at 13.82 per 1,000 people, which is a misleading stat because it only had a 2019 population of 579.

Photo: The statue at the entrance to Boys Town. It doesn't take much to skew the numbers. 

Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

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Kearney business owner Ron Blessing has been identified as the victim of a runaway bulldozer accident Wednesday morning in Kearney.

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