Columbus, OH : Local man flown to hospital after crash on Saturday, November 12th 2016

A local man sustained serious injuries following what authorities are considering a drug-related traffic accident.

The Norwalk post of the state Highway Patrol is investigating the crash that occurred at 5:25 p.m. Saturday on Halfway Road near U.S. 20 in Huron County’s Ridgefield Township.

Troopers said Rickard Brooker, 34, of Bellevue, was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Silverado pickup south on Halfway Road when he drove off of the right side of the road and overturned his vehicle. Brooker was able to keep driving west through a field. His vehicle came to rest off of U.S. 20 in a field after a passerby removed the keys from the vehicle, troopers said.

“We found a vehicle quite a ways out into the field,” said Tom Beck, chief of the Huron River Joint Fire District.

Beck said when Brooker went off the road he went through a field, which he exited to cross over the four lanes of U.S. 20 before entering another field on the other side of the road, where the vehicle came to rest near a set of railroad tracks. Beck said Brooker’s vehicle "ran over a couple of signs" in the process that “there were several different 9-1-1 calls” about the incident.

Brooker, who was not wearing his seat belt, sustained incapacitating injuries and was flown to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo by a LifeFlight helicopter. Sources at the hospital said Brooker was discharged from the hospital about 7:30 p.m. Sunday and was doing well.

Drug impairment is a suspected factor in the crash, troopers said. The crash remains under investigation at this time.

Troopers were assisted at the scene by the Huron County Sheriff’s Office, Ridgefield Township Fire Department, North Central EMS, LifeFlight and Interstate Towing.

Source :
Local man flown to hospital after crash