Ames police cited alcohol as the cause of a head-on collision on Mortensen Road on Wednesday night.

One driver, Mark Coffin, of Madrid, was charged with second-offense drunken driving, driving without headlights and driving on the wrong side of the road, said Ames Police Officer Ian Lawler.

Around 7 p.m., Coffin’s pick-up truck collided head-on with a black Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Lisa Hatfield, sophomore in veterinary medicine. Hatfield was treated and released for minor injuries at Mary Greeley Medical Center.

Witnesses told police Coffin was driving eastbound in the westbound lane without headlights.

ISU and Ames Police officers used spotlights to search the cross country fields after Coffin fled on foot. Ames Police arrested Coffin after firefighters spotted the man lying in the cross country fields, Lawler said. ISU Police assisted Ames police officers in searching for and arresting Coffin.

Coffin took a sobriety test before he was taken into custody.

After colliding with Hatfield’s car, Coffin’s truck came to rest in a ditch beside the road. Hatfield’s car could not be driven after the accident, as its airbags deployed, several windows shattered and the front and passenger sides were damaged.

Police shut down Mortensen Road between State Avenue and Hyland Avenue near Towers Residence Halls while conducting the investigation.

Lawler said Coffin nearly struck several other vehicles before striking Hatfield’s vehicle on Mortensen Road.

“We don’t see too many drunken driving [incidents] on this shift,” Lawler said.

He said Hatfield was “innocently driving” to the College of Veterinary Medicine when the accident happened.

Police are not charging Coffin with hit and run because Coffin did not travel far enough from the accident, Lawler said.