ELYRIA – A longtime Lorain County maintenance worker was fired this week after he failed a mandatory drug test when he was involved in a car accident Sept. 2.

James Brown, 47, tested positive for cocaine, Lorain County Administrator Jim Cordes said. That prompted the county commissioners to vote to fire him at their meeting Wednesday.

Brown was driving west on Russia Road in Carlisle Township in a county-owned Ford Taurus when the car went left of center and struck an eastbound Dodge Dakota driven by Jeffrey Newman of Amherst, according to a crash report completed by the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Neither Newman nor his passenger was injured in the accident, which took place around 3 p.m., the report said. Cordes said that although Brown did go to the hospital he wasn’t seriously injured.

In a written statement, Newman told troopers that Brown’s car went through the stop sign at Murray Ridge Road and went left of center.

“I tried going into ditch, but didn’t make it all the way when the car struck my driver’s side rear,” Newman wrote.

In his statement, Brown wrote that he didn’t recall what happened, although he said that he had stopped at the stop sign.

“The next thing I remember was the airbag smacking my face and me jumping out to see what happen(ed),” Brown wrote.

Brown wrote that he didn’t know if he blacked out but didn’t believe he’d fallen asleep at the wheel.

Brown didn’t comment when reached by phone Friday, but Cordes said Brown could challenge his firing through the union grievance process. He said the commissioners had two options – terminating Brown’s employment or suspending him and placing him in a treatment program – after learning about the positive drug test.

Given the circumstances, Cordes said, the commissioners opted to fire Brown.

Brown pleaded no contest in Elyria Municipal Court to a charge of improper lane usage. He was fined $150 but $30 of the fine was suspended.

Neither the Patrol’s report, nor court records, indicate that drugs played a role in the crash.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.