MARGARETTA TOWNSHIP -- A suspected drunk driver was involved in two separate crashes Thursday afternoon, sending himself to the hospital and knocking out power to an area of Erie Co.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says James H. Fields, 41, of Sandusky, was driving a 1996 Oldsmobile Ciera Thursday shortly after 3:30 p.m. when we rear-ended another vehicle southbound on SR 101.  Fields struck a 1997 Buick LeSabre driven by Ernest Erdman, 84, of Norwalk, and passed the vehicle by driving off the right side of the road.  He drove his vehicle through a ditch, struck a mailbox and fled the scene.

Erdman and his passenger, Clara Erdman, 81, were not injured.  Their vehicle sustained minor rear damage.

Fields then turned southbound onto Bardshar Rd. and on to Skadden Rd. where he struck two trees and two utility poles before coming to a rest on the roadway. 

Power was lost to an area of Erie Co. as a result of the crash. 

Fields was not wearing a seatbelt and sustained serious injuries as a result of the crash.  Authorities believe alcohol played a factor in the crash.  Fields was taken by Life Flight to Mercy St. Vincent's Medical Center in Toledo.

Ohio Edison was on scene to restore power to the area.