Man falls asleep behind the wheel, crashes in Arlington

6/18/2008

ARLINGTON, Ohio A Findlay man was hurt in a single-car crash in this Hancock County community early Wednesday after falling asleep behind the wheel. The car he was driving struck a light post, a parked car, and a house before coming to rest upside down, authorities said.

Joseph Ludwig, 34, the driver, was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital, Findlay, according to the Hancock County Sheriff s Office. His condition was not immediately available at the hospital Wednesday morning.

The crash happened about 2 a.m. in the 500 block of South Main Street, sheriff s deputies said.

Mr. Ludwig was northbound on South Main just north of Waterloo Drive when he woke up to find his car driving off the east side of the road. He over-corrected, causing the car to rotate counterclockwise, the sheriff s office said.

The car then went off the west side of the road, struck a light post, and then slid into the yard at 518 South Main, where it struck a parked car. The Ludwig car then bounced off the vehicle and rolled, crashing into the garage door of the house at that address, deputies said.

No one in the house was hurt. The garage door sustained minor damage, they said.

The deputies did not say why Mr. Ludwig fell asleep behind the wheel or whether he was cited in the crash. The accident remained under investigation.

Arlington is about 50 miles south of Toledo.