Lorain man charged with felony count

Police arrested a Lorain man after they say he caused separate car crashes Dec. 28.

Avon police charged Michael V. Rogers, 48, with operating a vehicle under the influence, a fourth-degree felony, failure to reinstate, an unclassified misdemeanor, right-of-way when turning left, a minor misdemeanor, and stopping after an accident, a first-degree misdemeanor after he caused a hit-skip crash and then left the scene in the 391000 block of Colorado Avenue, according to an Avon police report.

Rogers caused a headon crash about 6 p.m. that forced the victim’s car to go into the McDonald’s parking lot on Colorado, the report said. The victim was taken to the hospital with lower back injuries.

Rogers fled the scene on Colorado, but a short time later was picked up by Avon Lake police after he caused an additional crash on Miller Road when he failed to stop at a red light, according to the report. There weren’t any additional injuries from that crash.

Avon police received the call from Avon Lake officers and they met at the scene.

“The OVI becomes a felony charge because Rogers has had five prior OVI charges,” according to Avon Public Information Officer Jim Drozdowski. “If you have so many OVI convictions within a certain amount of time, the charge will be upgraded to a felony.”