NEWTON COUNTY, Mo. — A man is taken to the hospital after totaling his car by crashing through a utility pole.

The single vehicle accident happened along Apricot Drive in northwest Newton County, just before 3:30 p.m. this afternoon (4/14).

A witness who was driving behind the vehicle the black, four-door Subaru Forester, recalled how the crash happened: “We were just cruising along, then all the sudden, out of nowhere, he just drove off the road…”

After driving off the westbound lane of Apricot Drive, then down an embankment, the driver of the Subaru crashed through a utility poll, totaling the vehicle after it landed upside down in a pasture.

A Newton County Sheriff’s Deputy said the only person in the vehicle was the male driver who was taken to Freeman Hospital by ambulance with unknown injuries.

A SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRASH

The Redings Mill Fire Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri Highway Patrol and a Newton County Ambulance all responded to the accident.

Fire crews with the Redings Mill Fire Department controlled the flow of traffic along a section of Apricot Drive (near Antelope Road), while emergency vehicles and bucket trucks from Liberty Utilities occupied the westbound lane.

An update to this story, including details from the official accident report by the Missouri Highway Patrol, can be found here.