A Fostoria man was injured when his truck crashed into a tree near a house in Hopewell Township early Thursday morning.
Nathan E. Zickefoose, 19, who was not wearing a seat belt and had to be extricated with Jaws of Life, was taken by Bascom EMS to Mercy Tiffin Hospital, according to State Highway Patrol.
He was taken by Life Flight to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in serious condition early this morning.
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PHOTO BY JILL GOSCHE
A truck ran into a tree on CR 18 in Hopewell Township early Thursday morning.
A State Highway Patrol spokeswoman said alcohol use was suspected, and Zickefoose would be charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
"He refused the (blood) test," she said.
Sgt. Don Pratt of the Fremont post of State Highway Patrol said Zickefoose was driving a 1990 Dodge Ram east on CR 18 when the vehicle went off the right side of the road.
Pratt said he overcompensated, and the vehicle went off the left side of the road.
"(It) went through a farm field, into this front yard and hit the tree," he said.
Pratt said the vehicle traveled more than 525 feet from the time it left the road until it struck the tree.
Nathan Clark, a resident of the house at 6701 W. CR 18, said he was playing a game on the computer when he heard the crash. He went outside, saw the wrecked truck in his front yard, ran inside to get his cell phone and called 911. He also got a fire extinguisher because the grass under the vehicle was on fire.
The crash awoke his 17-year-old daughter Tressa, who had been sleeping upstairs.
"I'm glad he hit this tree and not somebody else," Clark said.
Personnel from Bascom EMS, Bascom Joint Fire District, Seneca County Sheriff's Office and State Highway Patrol responded to the scene of the accident, which was reported at 1:15 a.m. Thursday.
