State police and the Prospect-Muddy Creek Township Volunteer Fire Department were called to the scene of a one-car crash about 4:40 p.m. Saturday on Route 488 in Portersville that snapped a utility pole, causing a power outage. The road also was closed for more than six hours. The driver was not injured.

A man driving a car crashed into and sheared off a utility pole on Route 488 in Portersville on Saturday evening, knocking out power to hundreds of customers and closing the road for more than six hours, authorities said.

No one was injured in the wreck about 4:40 p.m. But the driver's Ford Taurus was severely damaged and had to be towed.

State police said Joseph D. Mays, 21, of Lucinda, Clarion County, apparently fell asleep at the wheel while eastbound on East Portersville Road, also known as Route 488. The car went off the south side of the road and hit the pole.

“It was a glancing blow,” said Tim Saunders, chief of the Prospect-Muddy Creek Township Volunteer Fire Department. “The driver's side front hit the pole.”

Police said live wires from the pole were toppled. Mays was able get out of the car on his own. His vehicle was likely totaled, firefighters said.

“The airbags deployed,” Saunders said, “and the front end was crumpled pretty good.”

The crash happened outside the house of Saunders' mother, Kay Saunders, and knocked down utility lines — telephone and power lines. She was home watching television at the time.

“I heard the collision,” Kay Saunders said. “I looked out the window and saw the pole snapped in two and the wires were down along the side of the road.”

She also saw the driver walking around. She invited Mays into her house to get out of the cold temperatures, and provided him with a jacket.

The crash left Kay Saunders and other homes in the area without power.

In all, said Mike Grandillo, West Penn Power spokesman, 384 customers were without service for between two and three hours.

A West Penn crew later arrived and de-energized the lines, Grandillo said. About 7:25 p.m., those lines were diverted to another circuit and re-energized, while the pole was replaced.

A portion of Route 488 was closed between Route 19 and Stanford Road. The road was not reopened until about midnight or a little after, authorities said.

Police cited Mays for disregarding traffic lanes.